Fire and Brimstone
by megamatt09
Summary: Formerly Harry Potter: Agent of SHIELD. With the world in peril because of a dangerous force, Harry must rely on others for the first time in fifteen years. The choice is easy when all life on Earth could be destroyed by a primal force.
1. Chapter 1

_So yes, this story. It's ten parts(or chapters if you prefer) and strictly Harry/Natasha for a pairing(even if said romance is not the focal point of the plot that much). And I'm sure there's some standard disclaimer that I don't own anything that regarding Marvel or Harry Potter. Updates will happen on Sundays, or I'll try to at least. _

**Part One.**

Fog settled on the docks in the early morning hours. This was the type of morning where no one expected something evil and underhanded to be going down, yet there was something evil and underhanded going down. A group of dark and shady individuals circled around, dressed in black outfits. The leader of the group wore a pinstriped suit and carried with him a briefcase, where he walked towards the leader of another group.

The contraband in the crates was the real prize they had before them. The men who brought it to them, they did not ask questions. The only delivered what was in the crate for a substantial fee. That fee would make them all for life. That was one thing that was for certain. They could fetch a high price due to that.

The two groups stared each other down before one party spoke.

"Do you have it?"

That question was asked by one of the members of the group and the crate pried open to reveal, yes they had the contents. Weapons that would allow their employers to be masters of the universe. It took a long time to smuggle these babies into port but the time it took, it was well and clearly worth all of the wait and all of the trouble.

"It all is present and accounted for," one of the men said, lighting up a cigar, with a calculated expression in his eyes. "The real question is, is our money all present and accounted for?"

The man on the other side shifted and did not like the accusatory tone this question had been given in. "Are you trying to say that we would double deal you?"

The tension in the air could be felt by both sides, and it grew by each passing minute.

"Not saying that at all...it's just in our business, every cent counts."

Tension reigned in the air with these parties, neither of them truly trusted the other. Yet, they all had to trust each other, if they wanted to do business with each other. That was the state of the game, the name of what they were doing. The two parties looked at each other, before a third man stepped in. Someone had to act as a mediator.

"Everything will be in order, there is no need to throw around accusations."

The man delivering the items was not going to back down from what he thought is claims should be. "I am not throwing around accusations, I just feel it is prudent to make sure that my money is delivered to me as planned."

"Yes, it will be," the mediator agreed but there was a rustling of the wind behind them which caused them all to perk up.

The wind rustled from behind them more and they stood on their feet. They laughed after this moment of being terrified. Surely, there was nothing to be terrified by the wind? It was natural as anything that they could deal with. The group stood, laughing with each other. This moment of being terrified brought them closer together.

One of the men felt a crack of his skull before he slumped down to the ground. Pain filled his body when he dropped to the ground. The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head, when he began to cough and breath heavily. The second man fell down, with a blast of blue light impacting his back and he got dropped down to the ground.

"We've got compromised!"

The man who stated this was thrown down to the ground, his legs and arms breaking when he flew to the ground. His heart sped up, beating heavily in his chest, before his invisible adversary shot razor sharp ropes against his fellow gang members.

"Sloppy."

This word was projected away from the target but it caused his enemy to turn around and shoot towards a shadow that was not there. The attacker flew forwards and the sound of limbs cracking and snapping could be heard. They went down swiftly and painfully.

Another enemy flew down to the ground out of it, and the rest of them tried to run away, but a helicopter touched down on the ground. The wind from the blades caused the men to throw their arms over their heads, when they stepped back a few feet, shuddering from what was before them. Their knees buckled and knocked together.

Exiting the helicopter was a tall man dressed in a black trenchcoat, black skin and bald with an eyepatch on. He was an imposing figure to say the least and one that many people wet themselves over when they saw him. Nick Fury showed up and punched out one of the goons before he could make a movement. The goon crumpled to the ground knocked down with one punch.

The next man was dressed in purple, with blonde hair, and he pointed an arrow. He turned around and fired the arrow. The arrow disarmed one of the attackers. He was called Clint Barton, but he was known as Hawkeye. More arrows fired at a rapid barrage fury when he moved in, taking out the remaining attackers that their invisible friend did not take out.

A red haired woman with green eyes, dressed in a catsuit rolled forward and stood ready to pounce. She used her powerful legs to take down the enemy. She was one of the top spies in SHIELD by a mile, skilled and intelligent. She swooped in and took control of her enemies, wiping them out with ballistic fury. Natasha Romanov or the Black Widow, was not about to take them down without a fight and they scattered.

"Run."

A loud bang echoed and a net appeared in mid air, wrapping around the people who tried to get away. They struggled, their limbs thrashing, before an electrical pulse shot through them. The group landed on the ground with a thud. Nick Fury stepped forward, looking through one eye, before he turned around and decided to get to the matter at hand.

"Who are you and who are you working for?"

The criminal they took out was definite as usual. He practically spat out his next statement to Fury. "I'll never talk to you."

"I wasn't giving you the option," Fury stated in a tone that would make most wet themselves.

Which these men were doing, they twitched and shivered, also shuddering a little bit while Fury waited in his most impatient expression. He could get into their heads all day and all night, there was no use of them waiting. His eye narrowed when he stared them down.

"They're working for the Liberators Movement."

Fury turned and saw a figure standing there in a black robe with a hood up. He turned and pointed his gun towards this robed figure, while his two best people stepped in and watched him carefully. If he attacked, they'd be ready.

"I beg your pardon."

"The Liberators Movement, they were using magically modified Muggle weapons, giving them a supernatural qualities. They're being funded by the British Ministry of Magic, the old purebloods don't want to give up the ghost, even if it's been years and years since they've had any say or had been relevant at all. The Muggle Government's taken more control of that world and they've been brought into the twenty first century or at least the twentieth given how far behind we are. Granted, it's going to take time but these people are more concerned about their power, even if they are an endangered species."

Fury eyed him suspiciously.

"I know of your hidden world but I was wondering...who you are?"

The young man underneath the robe smiled. "I'm sure you've heard of me."

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down," Fury stated when he stepped forward, bracing himself for a fight.

"What Commander Fury wants to know is who are you and what is your problem with this Liberators Movement?" asked Black Widow when she stared at this young man, well she could see nothing but a hood and a faceless blur.

The young man shifted and they could almost tell he was smiling. "Well this Liberators Movement, they seek to undo any positive chance that they can. Not that the Ministry is any better with more Muggleborns and Half Bloods in charge. Stupid politicians are still stupid politicians no matter what blood or background they have."

Fury knew what he was talking about. He dealt with his share of idiots in office every day.

"You want some more information, how about a demonstration?" the hooded figure stated when he stared them down. He looked at Black Widow and Hawkeye. "Attack me. If you hold your own, you might get me to part with more information."

Hawkeye, feeling that this young man was an easy target, set himself up. "Oh believe me, we'll do more than hold our own."

One arrow was shot but turned into a bouquet of flowers when it fell to the ground. Hawkeye stopped and stared, his eyes blinking when he watched.

"Not bad, maybe you would have had a better shot if I was blindfolded."

Hawkeye gritted his teeth together in a pained grimace, pulling himself up to his feet and popping his elbow twisting it around. His eyes screwed shut before he offered a moment to shake loose the cobwebs. He wanted to figure out what he did wrong and go back to the attack. He armed himself and moved forward to go for the attack.

The figure he tried to attack was not there.

"Here today and gone tomorrow, that's the problem with attacking an opponent you can't see."

Black Widow charged forward, her heart beat a bit more steadily when she tried to attack her opponent. Said opponent dodged her assault and she did a flipping roll over his back. The spy landed on her feet, spun around, and swung for the fences. Her adversary dodged the swing nicely, before she flipped over onto her feet.

Natasha both enjoyed the challenge and was annoyed.

"You have some kind of powers, don't you?"

There was a pause. "Give this lady a gold star."

Natasha tried to shock her adversary but the attack repelled back towards her. She was shaken but not stirred. Her head felt like it been trampled on and he swept the leg out from underneath her. She flew head over heels and flipped onto the ground, landing with a thud.

Hawkeye reached up and helped Natasha to her feet. Natasha gritted her teeth before she spun around. "Let's try this one together."

Natasha's eyes flashed with intensity. She was thrilled at the challenge. "Lets."

Natasha and Clint made their movements towards their attacker but he dodged their attacks with grace and precision. He dodged another attack, dropping down and weaving around, before he tripped them up. He pushed them down onto the ground.

Two SHIELD agents tried to attack and two SHIELD agents were on the ground, thanks to an enemy that they did not see.

"Well I'll think things over, thanks for the workout."

Fury turned and looked forward before he responded in a gruff voice. "This isn't over."

He could almost since this hooded man smiling, taunting him. "No, it isn't over."

Natasha pulled herself up and she could hear with a faint pop that he was gone. Something told her that she should be looking forward to some sort of rematch between the two of them. When and where that happened, she had no earthly idea.

X-X-X

Over a year passed since that meeting and the team of the Earth's Mightiest Superheros, the Avengers were going strong and expanding their ranks. The world at large were trying to figure out what the Avengers were all about. Were they the force for good that they presented themselves out. Or did they do more harm than good? There were many questions and people kept changing all of the answers.

"Give them all you got."

That was the voice of Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, who had determination that could not be matched by anyone on Earth. He gritted his teeth, when he held up an impressive shield. He smashed towards the yellow clad enemies that stood on the ground and faced them, ready to win the day and the battle, like he always did.

"Giving them, got it."

Tony Stark or Iron Man dropped down to the ground. He wore yellow and red armor and fired a series of impressive attacks at his enemies. That staggered them.

The growling of the Incredible Hulk proceeded him smashing his enemies with all of his might. They flew backwards with a tremendous sonic impact.

Black Widow dropped down, knocking and dodging the attacks of one of the weapons that fired upon her. She stood up and knocked the weapons out the hand of her attackers.

Thor, the God of Thunder, dropped down, swinging his mighty hammer, before he smashed it hard. "So who are we dealing with again?"

Iron Man grunted before he propelled them backwards. "They're called...The Advanced Idea Mechanics and...yeah I've dealt with these jokers a few times before and their big headed leader."

Carol Danvers, a gold haired woman dressed in a red and black bodysuit, with a mask jumped down, before she launched energy attacks from her hands. "So, the typical take over the world types, then?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Iron Man agreed when he fired upon the attacks. He gritted his teeth in concentration, firing upon his enemies.

"It does offer us an impressive work out for our newly expanded team," Captain America responded when he smashed them.

"Yeah, our three new recruits, they need some breaking in," Hawkeye responded when he staggered back a little bit.

Black Panther, one of the new recruits, turned his head behind his shoulder. "Seems like you need some fine tuning, my friend."

Hawkeye took this statement in stride, before he turned around and fired another rapid barrage of arrows, shot at the attackers. The arrows stuck in the armor of the attackers and blew them to bits, sending them backwards. They scattered and was about to bring out the big guns.

"So that's what we do now?"

Jessica Drew, better known as Spider-Woman, showed up. Her costume was a combination of reds and yellows, her black hair flowing from behind a mask.

"Okay, I got this one."

Spider -Woman swung upwards, wrapping her ankles around the heads, before flipping her adversary to the ground. She made sure he landed hard and she propelled herself up into the air, before she drilled a knee into the chest of an enemy. Said enemy spasmed underneath the attack and Spider-Woman drew herself back, before hitting a punch.

"What are they after?" Thor asked, when he smashed his hammer into his enemies.

"That's what we're trying to...argh...find out," Captain America stated when he swung his shield and cracked it against the face of his enemy. "They're making sure that truck gets out of here...Hulk, you know what to do."

The Hulk rushed forward, his eyes glowing with a primal fury, when he slammed his hands on the back of the truck. The truck remained in place, with the Hulk bending his knees. The green giant kept the truck in place, rocking himself backwards, rolling his shoulders back. Said shoulders popped back with a grimace and his teeth gritted. The Hulk stood on the ground, focused and determined, there was nothing compared to what he could do.

"Get back here," Hulk grunted, when Ms. Marvel blew out the tires with a well placed energy attack from her hands.

The truck opened up, to reveal that no on was inside, unless one counted the bomb that they needed to disarm.

"Avengers, back off," Captain America stated when he turned towards them.

Nice and easy did the trick, and Iron Man was in straight away to disarm the bomb and prevent the cataclysmic event.

The large yellow pod rose from the crowd and it aimed their enemies, but suddenly a blast fired through the air. It impacted the side of the pod causing it to smoke and the pilot to jump out. Thor took down the pilot but his eyes widened when he saw several more pods levitate in the air, swirling in a wave of magic.

"By the Allfather," Thor stated, eyes widened and he was not the only one.

Black Panther stood on the ground, he was a man of few words but he was certain that there would be many to describe what he saw here.

"Wow," Iron Man managed, when he saw the pod smash together and the pilots shoot from them. Technology that took months to assemble ripped apart in a matter of seconds by some mysterious force.

The dust cleared, and a figure wearing black robes with a hood over them stood before them.

"Remember me," he stated, turning towards Black Widow and Hawkeye.

"Yeah my backside remembers you alright," Hawkeye stated, when he prepared to fire on him but remembered how well that went last time. The hooded figure chuckled.

"I have to thank you for the assist," Captain America stated when he paused. "But I don't know if..."

"If you could trust me, that's smart, you shouldn't trust anyone in the world at face value," the hooded figure stated when he rocked back and forth to look at them.

Black Widow took a step forward a little bit but he dodged the attack. "Nice try, but it's too slow, much too slow."

"One could say that you're too fast," Iron Man responded, showing a great deal of mirth at how his teammate was unable to get a shot in on this guy, when she tended to school all of the members of the team with the exception of Hulk, Cap, and Thor in sparring.

"I've heard about you, you've popped up several times in the past few months," Ms. Marvel remarked. She followed the news and heard that this mysterious hooded savior popped up. "Who are you?"

"I go by many names," the hooded figure stated in a careful voice, not trying to give anything away.

The truth was for the past fifteen years, the man beneath the hood walked the Earth, learning all that he could. The moment that Lord Voldemort died, he turned around, walked out of Hogwarts, and kept walking. It did not matter, his purpose was done. Most of his friends died in the battle with the Death Eaters to begin with. The few that did, well they got on with their lives. He figured that out after the first few years when they stopped trying to find him.

Then the idiots in the Liberator's Movement started up. The Wizarding World was like the mafia, once you thought you were out, they kept pulling you back in. The only way he could be free as if they all ended up killing themselves,which he figured was inevitable.

Iron Man decided to try a different tactic. "Well this guy isn't important enough for us to know him, so that's why he's not saying his name."

"I'm sure Fury's pieced it together by now, he just isn't telling you," Harry responded in a careful voice and an eyebrow raised.

"Fury knows, that's not surprising," Hawkeye responded when he drew in his breath and swung his arms by the side.

It would not surprising to anyone if he knew everything. Nick Fury knew when you were sleeping, he knew when you were awake, he knew whether you were bad or good.

"The pieces aren't really that hard to put together, although I've covered enough of my tracks to make sure that everything has rolled into place."

Captain America decided to be the voice of reason as usual. "Come with us..."

"I'll be the one who dictates meeting conditions," the hooded figure stated when he turned his head and smiled.

Ms. Marvel knew the type of game he played. "He does have all of the cards."

"That he does," Iron Man agreed, he hated when someone held all of the cards like that. "How about we find some kind of neutral territory where we meet? And maybe we'll get some answers."

"Maybe you will," the hooded figure stated when he shrugged his shoulders. "I could be in a good mood. But take your little criminals, I have no use for them. Some of them might still be breathing. These attacks over the last year, I don't think that they're a coincidence. There's someone pulling the strings, between AIM and the Liberator's Movement, but that's all you'll get from me."

The hooded figure vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the Avengers with more questions than they had answers.

X-X-X

In the mist in a distant land, sat a golden haired woman dressed in green, with a crown over her hair and simmering fury in her blue eyes. She watched the actions happening down on Midgard with interest, perhaps with a bit of a personal interest. The object of her obsession was down there, fighting with that group of heroes. The group of heroes that that fool Loki lost to all of those months ago and she turned around, to ponder the house of cards fate dealt her.

Her name was Amora, but she was better known as the Enchantress, she was one of the most powerful Sorceress in all of Asgard. Her intelligence was pretty strong as well when she tapped her fingers on the pedestal next to the throne she sat. She watched him, she watched Thor, she watched every single movement Thor made. Even when he bathed, she watched him intently.

Thanks to her enchantments she could watch Thor anywhere that he was, through all of his ups and his downs. Amora could watch his most private, intimate moments, and the Son of Odin would be none the wiser.

Yet when she watched the events of today, another interesting party showed himself. Amora prided herself on her observation skills and what she observed was the young man who stood with a hood obscuring his face in the shadows. She saw him several times over many months, always in the shadows, always lurking. Amora made notes that this young man kept lurking in the shadows and sometimes showed up to lend a hand.

He had great power and whilst Amora focused the most on Thor, only a fool would not notice that there was another person standing before them. Who was this person, well she did not know, but she could find out.

Her contact on Midgard buzzed to life and she picked up the device, before placing it to her ear.

"Speak," the Enchantress stated when she listened to the device.

"The pawn is being set in place, the Avengers are looking towards AIM and this Liberator's Movement, they'll never suspect what we're doing," the voice stated on the other end of the communication link, garbled, with Amora only barely able to make out a word of what was said.

She frowned before she responded in a crisp voice. "You had best hoped that this plan goes to specifications. There is no room for error, do you hear me, absolutely no room for error?"

"So you have told me but don't worry, unlike that weak fool Loki, I never make mistakes," the man responded at the end of the communication link.

Amora heard that one before from several men and she could count the mistakes that they made. Yet this individual was the biggest pawn of them all for her plan. "Do not allow your pride to be your downfall. Know that I will be watching and I will be waiting. There is much on the line and there is much left to do. Do I make myself clear?"

"You are clear," the man on the other end of the link stated, confirming her words.

"I'm glad that we're all clear," Amora stated in her most nasty tone, she did not want today's plan to go south, no matter what.

She waited for the chess pieces to be moved into place, while she kept one eye on Thor's progress. A smile crossed her face when she continued to observe him. Their mystery sorcerer was also following Thor and the rest of his team of Avengers.

The Enchantress continued her observation.

X-X-X

"So you wanted to meet me and here I am."

Nick Fury was not used to having the ball thrown out of his court and he turned around, before he watched the hooded figure. He had a pretty good idea who he was. Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, and Hawkeye popped up as his backup.

"I think you can remove the hood now, we're among friends and there's no cameras here," Iron Man stated and sure enough, the hooded figure removed the hood, to reveal that he was wearing a black and white skeleton mask. "Cute, very cute."

The young man smiled from behind the mask before he offered one statement to them all. "You said to remove the hood. I removed the hood."

"Well he does have a point," Natasha conceded but she wondered what was underneath that mask.

Carol wondered as well, but she supposed it was his right to be anonymous.

"The mask isn't to protect me from the world, it's to protect the world from me," the man stated when he turned to them.

Iron Man could not resist chiming in with a few words of his own. "What, do people turn to stone when they look in your face?"

The man's face turned to a smile before he responded with one swift answer. "That's about as close enough to a logical explanation that you're going to ever get."

"You know who all of us are, but yet they don't know who you are," Fury responded when he looked at the masked man. "Now, I have a pretty good idea why you do what you do. The Liberator's Movement, they killed your best friend, didn't they?"

"Maybe," the young man shifted a little bit. The mask was good at hiding emotion but it could not disguise body language.

"Let's try this one again, Mr. Potter," Fury responded in a stern voice and the young man stood up straight.

"Bravo, you have done your homework, you keep your eye on the ball but can you keep it there?" Harry responded but the mask was on his face. "The truth of the matter was that the Liberator's Movement killed many people, Muggles, Muggleborns, Half Bloods, Blood Traitors, and even themselves. Until I destroyed all but a select few of them that hang around like cockroaches. Of course, that didn't leave them with much of a world left."

Harry remembered it will, they made Riddle and his lackeys look well adjusted indeed. Granted, Tom and the gang did their usual share of genocide but it was within reason, well somewhat within reason. At least it was not completely out of line with what Harry thought, the young man twisting his expression into a pained grimace.

"The Liberator's Movement, they were puppets on a string dangling with some kind of higher power, so are AIM, and even the Avengers are being played as saps," Harry responded when he turned his head around.

Black Widow pounced out that statement, one that she was both intrigued and suspicious about. "How so?"

"Well, there is some mastermind out there, controlling the entire thing, it's amazing what he or she could do," Harry stated when he looked at Fury. "And by keeping your eye on me...you really botched things up a little bit."

Harry did not say any more but Fury understood what he implied.

By keeping his eye on Harry, he took his eye off of the real threat, whoever that real threat might be. The young wizard looked as if he only had a vague idea as well, at least that's what Fury thought.

"If you remove the mask, we can face each other and work together," Fury responded when he eyed him.

"I hold the cards, not you," Harry answered, sure enough he understood what he had on the line. "But I will say this much to you and I hope that you take me seriously. I hope you understand what's on the line."

Cryptic, that was something that Harry instinctively picked up from years of being around Dumbledore. It was amazing how one could become something that a person loathed with another practice. At least that's what the young man figured, when his eyes turned towards the group. All of them remained locked on him, carefully staring him down, and Harry hitched in a breath, working together was something that he dreaded for a few simple reasons.

Iron Man broke the silence. "Do you really know as much as you think you do?"

Harry cut that situation down as quickly as possible. "Likely, I don't know as much as I think that I do. But I know enough to understand what we're dealing with and that is someone who is playing for far higher stakes."

"We're in the big leagues now," Ms. Marvel responded but Harry held up a hand, turning around.

Black Widow continued to watch him, suspicion was something that she learned as a spy. Fury trusted him, at least as far as Fury would trust someone. Nick Fury knew that blind trust was not something that was given and Natasha agreed with that point, her eyes narrowed a little bit when she watched the young man before her.

"So tell me, are you going around in circles to wait for you to learn more information?"

"It's nothing like that at all, it's just...I've never been one to collect information until fifteen years ago," Harry responded when he looked over his shoulder. "I've been more of an action oriented person, doing rather than thinking. Which could end up working out pretty good or pretty bad."

Captain America's voice stood crisp and firm. "And that is..."

"I've been on both the winning and the losing side, but even when a person loses, I've found that they win in other ways," Harry responded when his eyes shifted a little bit.

Harry thought that it was prudent to elaborate on what he was saying eventually but there were other problems that pushed him out of his thoughts and pondering of what he wanted to do.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Fury yelled when he slammed his hands down on the console and spun around to the Avengers.

Iron Man was the one who spoke up. "What do we have to be kidding you about?"

"It's...it's an attack, on one of the top security SHIELD prisons," Fury responded when he tried to keep his cool, even though he was about to blow his stack. His eye closed when he thought about it. He turned towards Harry, doing a slow burn before he spoke to him. "I don't suppose that you..."

"Know anything about this," Harry interjected when he turned around, his eyes narrowly from beneath the mask that he wore. "No, I have powers but the ability to predict every crime on Earth is not one of them, it'd be dead useful."

"No kidding."

Fury had no time to think about this, he had action. Who would want to spring this many super criminals?

X-X-X

Maxwell Dillon was the super criminal known as Electro, he ran into Spider-Man most of the time but he also fought a number of the other heroes around the world .He gave them their share of headaches but despite his brutality, he was driven by one thing. It was the thing that most criminals were driven by and that was money.

Money made the world go around and Electro prepared to fry the locks of the prison. One line of defense was down but there were several more to go. His glowing eyes flickered with malicious fury. he was dressed in a skin tight black bodysuit, with a bald head and goggles. His skin glowed blue, to give off the sensation of electricity and his ears were burned completely off. He could still sense sounds through his powers.

Electro grinned before he aimed for the locks and fired a bolt of electricity towards it.

"SHOWTIME!"

Dozens of criminals, some minor some major, were all unlocked from the secure SHIELD facility and brought forth to bring carnage on the world.

**To Be Continued in the Next Part. **


	2. Part II

**Part Two.**

Chaos reigned supreme when explosions rang out and the guards scattered by the escaping criminals. Electro smiled when he walked back, it was a simple job all things considered. Naturally, that was the pure and unadulterated beauty of it. These simple jobs sometimes did lead to unprecedented chaos and that's what Electro decided when he walked. His body glowed with the personification of pure power and he blasted a guard for the hell of it.

"Yeah, buddy!" Electro cheered when he saw the stampeding criminals. His old pals Rhino and Shocker were among those who escaped but there were others who escaped in the riots. He rubbed his hands together with glee. The Living Laser and the Grey Gargoyle were among those who escaped, making the most out of the confusion.

Electro saw the chaos but then he found the blast of energy shooting at him. He dodged the attacks, but the SHIELD officers were on the ball. He summoned all of the power that he had into him, before he launched a deadly attack. Sparks began to fly, in more ways then one, before the guns blasted and blew out of the hands of his enemies. Electro dropped down from the attack, the electricity based super villain facing his enemies and his teeth gritting when he rubbed his hands together.

He watched the Purple Man run on past him, slipping into the shadows, followed by Tombstone, the Serpent Society, the Mad Thinker, The Taskmaster, and many, many others rushing out the back door.

"Stand down, Electro."

Electro's face contorted with fury, before his eyes began to glow. "Why don't you make me?"

That question was punctuated by a blast of electricity that knocked the SHIELD agents down and rocked them. Some of the agents were trampled by the escaping criminals, but they all went down for the count. An explosion rang out but Electro kept firing off attack after attack, trying to keep his enemies at bay, before he remarked in a malicious tone.

"You know...you know, if you didn't keep all of your bad guys in one prison, something like this, well it never was going to happen, now would it? WOULD IT?"

Electro fired an attack at his enemies but they began launching water balloons at him.

"Sorry, this suit protects me from all water based attacks, so that little weakness won't do any good," Electro stated before he added as an afterthought. "You've got to keep current!"

The pun got the amount of groans that it deserved but it was at this point where Electro could not cared. He stayed to the course and began to fire a series of rapid fire bolts from his hands, sending his attackers scattering. He was not one to leave anyone alive, especially given that they fired on him first. He blasted the water and they were electrocuted as well.

Electro turned his head, his eyes glowing when he watched them bring in the big guns. Now that they meant business but so did he.

"Lethal ordinance has been granted and will be used if you do not stand down Electro."

Once again, Electro was not about to stand down for he had everyone in the palm of his hand, in fact his hand closed together, waiting for the signal. Surely he was about to have some backup now, surely his mysterious benefactor would not leave him a lurch. Surely, he was going to get paid for this, regardless of what he did. He cleared out the prison and made SHIELD look like the jackasses that they were.

Something resembling doubt settled in Electro's mind and he dropped down to the ground, his knees buckling when they swayed a little bit. He blinked a little bit before his head twisted a little bit and he thought that he had been screwed. Oh yes, he had been screwed big time.

As if on cue to really hammer it in, a figure dressed in black, who Electro could barely see, swooped in. He set a bolt of energy towards Electro. He tried to block it but by blocking it, Electro played right into the hands of this mystery man. The villain gave a shudder when he got shocked and he floated down to the ground, crashing down with an immense impact. Electro found himself shaken and rattled, before the hooded figure dropped down.

"Fury figured you guys could use some back up."

The young man dressed in a pure black bodysuit without a bit of color and his hood was pulled up.

"Seems like we can't go one day without any psychopath causing damage."

The SHIELD agents nodded in agreement, they would have to agree. Hawkeye and Black Widow showed up, a bit late to the party. They looked frazzled, but retained their professional demeanor.

"All but twenty criminals have been detained," Hawkeye stated, giving a shudder at the fact that he missed a few of the heavy hitters.

"But there are hundreds in this place," Harry responded when he turned to them, his face and body still obscured. "I trust you took care of them."

"Yeah, they're back in their cells," Hawkeye confirmed to him but Harry raised an eyebrow towards him. "What...what did I do?"

Harry decided to take pity on him. "Well some of these guys are hardened criminals and they've killed women, children, civilians, or done even worse to them. I don't know which ones got away but..."

"Fury wants them alive," Black Widow stated when she hung her head a little bit. Then again, she didn't go out her way to save these criminals but she did not outright kill them. Even though every single instance where she considered it was quite frankly justified.

"Good for Fury, but he's giving them a second chance to do what?" Harry asked when he turned around and looked out to the distance. "Nine times out of ten, giving a people a second chance, that's going to blow up hard in the face of the fools that give them."

Black Widow winced, she was one of the few that did good with her second chance but she conceded that he had a point. Most people would take a second chance that they were given and turn around to slap others in the face with it. It was simple, human nature. The red haired Russian spy took a moment to think and reflect about the events of her life but she decided that now was not the time to go down memory lane.

"Well we got Electro, I suppose Fury wanted him alive, at least long enough to figure out what his game is," Harry answered, the truth was that he could have dialed back on the spells a little bit but he fell down to the ground hard.

"That is...yes that would be prudent," Black Widow agreed when they held up Electro. His body gave a shudder but his powers had been shut down by Harry. Harry did not tell them this but he shut down the powers of a few more of the escaping criminals and did it quite fatally.

Harry spent the last fifteen years in a situation where it was kill or be killed. He could never even close his eyes, before if he did, the next place he could wake up would be in the afterlife. The Liberator's Movement was far more dangerous than what Harry let on, given some of the deals they made. He had to kill them all and by the end, ninety percent of the magical users in Europe had been decimated in that war.

It was the price to pay to make sure innocents did not die, even if Harry wondered if it was worth it. It was a question that never would be sufficiently answered.

* * *

"Well I've been here for less than one day, and I've already stumbled into a situation where all hell just broke loose. It's nice to see that I haven't lost my touch. I was afraid I had when there were a few hours that were quiet and peaceful."

Fury did not find any amusement in this statement from Harry but rather he tried to figure out what he was dealing with. The SHIELD facility was supposed to be secure and unable to be broken into. Some nut like Electro shouldn't be able to get past the front gates which made him suspicious that something was going on that was not quite on the level. He had help and the Director of SHIELD did not like that at all. What it was, Fury had no clue whatsoever but he was determined to find out in no time. He clicked his fingers a little bit and pulled up the latest reports.

The security cameras failed approximately three minutes and nine seconds before Electro staged his daring breakout. Fury was able to obtain that much from what happened. The backups kicked on when he arrived which alerted SHIELD of his presence. By that point, the damage already was long since done.

"This is a situation and we could use all of the help that we can get, Mr. Potter," Fury responded without looking at him, rather he looked on the view screen.

Harry offered a sound of mock surprise. "You mean to tell me that...that the great and powerful Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, wants my help."

"I don't want anything from you, just I'd appreciate the back up," Fury stated when he did not put his eye on Harry. He wished he had three eyes as opposed to the one, because they could come in handy. "I don't..."

Fury decided to put what he was thinking in as many words as he could and he cleared his throat before he spoke again.

"I know that this sounds...well it sounds as if I'm desperate, but the real people out there are desperate are the civilians," Fury responded when he turned around finally to face Harry. He cleared his throat and spoke again. "I'm waiting...I'm requesting for you to join SHIELD and by extension the Avengers."

"That's an interesting offer Fury, but I'm a free agent and I enjoy not being tied down to a group," Harry stated without a second thought. It was true, Harry Potter, Agent of SHIELD, had a certain ring to it but he was not about to cave in to the demands of Fury. He was no one's stooge, no one's man through and through, he was Harry Potter.

No man and no women could dare to control him. A few tried, but Harry pointed the exit out when they did.

Harry thought it over more carefully than he wanted to let on but he was not completely sure if he was on board with it. Actually when one thought about it, he was never going to be completely on board with something like this.

"I'm taking all offers into consideration and I'll work with you but not for you," Harry offered when he spun around after much thought.

"It's a shame, we could use someone of your talents as part of SHIELD," Fury offered to Harry.

Harry paused and a smile crossed his face. "You give me entirely too much credit, Fury."

Harry thought he was not that bad but at the same time, to say that he was that good would be pushing things a tad bit. The young wizard determined that there was a lot on the line, although what was on the line, he had no idea. He crossed his arms and thought, hoping and planning for the best, even though the best would barely come for him.

"The Purple Man has been sighted and we're closing in."

"Be careful, his mind control abilities are second to none," Fury answered, someone like the Purple Man was a cruel and sadistic villain. Zebekiah Killgrave was his true name and it was not a name that inspired much trust and confidence in people. He caused people to stop breathing just for breathing too loud. He was one sick puppy.

And he was on the loose, when Fury thought that he would be locked away forever.

Harry considered Fury. "It seems like you need my help."

"Yeah, we do, it's one of those all hands on deck situations."

Iron Man turned up and Harry stood back, waiting for the armor clad Avenger to say his piece. There was a pause before Iron Man spoke and what he had to say was not good.

"I won't mince words, we have a bit of a problem."

Harry's face contorted into a grimace. "That's never a good thing to talk about."

"No it isn't," Iron Man agreed when he decided to punch up the scanner information. "There have been these energy portals opening up all over town. Thor thinks that they are of a mystical origin. Which would be your area of expertise if I'm not mistaken."

Harry smiled. "Once again you give me too much credit to claim that I have an area of expertise, but yes, I know a fair bit about magic."

"Knowing a fair bit about magic is more than we all know," Black Widow chimed in when she showed up. "Killgrave has been sighted by Hawkeye and his team. They're closing in to grab him but he could be a distraction."

"He is a distraction, they're all distractions," Harry responded in a cryptic tone of voice.

Natasha felt frustration mount before she turned towards Harry. She spoke in a slow and sour voice. "Think you could be a bit clearer."

"Yes, I could be but how much time do you have for me to explain it?" Harry asked when he turned and looked out the window and saw the blue skies. "I saw these...flashes before I showed up for help you fight AIM."

Fury jumped on that explanation immediately, his eye narrowing when he thought about it. "What kind of flashes?"

Harry answered quickly. "The type of flashes that you don't want to be on the opposite end of. There was someone up there doing something and someone's trying to open up a portal."

He let that sink in ever so briefly before he continued with his explanation. He felt that it was a change that he gave the bad news to others instead of receiving it. It was so refreshing that Harry could not even explain it.

"And if someone wants to try and open up a portal of some sort, well bad is not going to cover it, a catastrophe would be a more likely term."

"And they're after..."

Harry cut Natasha off before she could ask the question. "Immorality, power, the full scale destruction of all life on Earth, petty revenge or even any or all of the above. Take your pick which one you find the worst. "

Natasha now was more curious than ever before but there was no time for her to worry about that now.

"Killgrave went underground, yes, Thor, Panther, Hawkeye, Spider Woman, do what you have to do," Fury stated when he heard it. Killgrave was a threat, and as long as the Purple Man was out there, they were not taking any chances.

"Do you hope that someone like that will be rehabilitated?" Harry asked and Fury ignored this line of question, except for giving Harry a glare that was quite nasty. "Simple question, no need to lose your head over it."

Fury decided that he was not going to dignify that question with a response at least for now.

Black Widow broke the tension and the silence. "Perhaps we should speak with Dillon; there has be a reason why he did what he did."

Fury offered a noncommittal nod, before he turned around and lit up a cigar. "Perhaps there is one."

That was of course providing that Electro was still awake to tell the tale, although Potter swore up and down that he did not kill him. And he was breathing, so there was no lying on that front.

* * *

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Electro was strapped and his powers suppressed when he looked up in the eye of Nick Fury. Most people would wet themselves but he played it cool.

"Forget it, you're not getting anything out of me, until I get to speak with my attorney," Electro stated, almost taunting Fury. He was egging the Director of SHIELD on.

"You've forfeited the right to any rights when you entered a secure government installation and attacked agents of SHIELD," Fury responded when he slammed his hands down on the table and practically snarled at Electro. "So talk, or else I'll make you talk."

Electro took a moment to reconcile that in his mind.

"What are you going to do, get the Hulk to smash me?" Electro asked but then Harry Potter turned up, a grin crossing his face.

"Remember me and how my attack caused you pain until you passed out," Harry answered and Electro's eyes widened. "Well you see, I don't have to attack you to cause you pain, and I don't have to make you pass out. All it takes is one move and you will be screaming in pain."

Fury offered an eerily calm statement that was uncharacteristic of him. "So you better talk."

Iron Man and Black Widow watched from the shadows. Tony, being Tony, could not risk saying something.

"Who knew that we'd ever see the day where Nick Fury of all people would be playing the good cop?"

Black Widow offered a shadow of a smile. "There's a first time for everything."

Iron Man decided to keep watching but Electro was an enchantingly tough nut to crack, he could not believe how tough he was to crack. The last he heard, he was a rather low level threat, he had great power but his brains, they left something to be desired.

"So will you say anything?"

Electro once again refused to answer and he was going to be a tough one to crack.

"So what did I miss?"

Hawkeye's voice caused Black Widow and Iron Man to spin around. Ms. Marvel also showed up but did not say anything at least not yet until now.

"Oh not too much, Electro being stubborn, Fury losing his cool, Potter threatening him with super scary magic that would make someone's skin crawl," Iron Man responded when he looked up and turned with a smile. "It's pretty much another day at the office."

"Indeed," Ms. Marvel stated when she looked at him.

"Okay, fine I'll talk."

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at that quick statement from Electro. "That was...abrupt. I wonder what he said."

"Who Fury or Potter?" Iron Man asked when he kept his eye on them and did not say much more than another word.

"Either, or both," Ms. Marvel chimed in for Hawkeye who nodded by the side. Black Widow's face twisted into a shadow of a smile. She heard enough of it to mentally fill in the blanks.

"I don't know if you want to know," Black Widow offered, she could tell by the way Electro was shaking that there was some kind of threat given that even he could not brush off.

"We have a problem."

That statement never led to good things happening. Hawkeye in particular sighed and looked at Fury when he said that. "What's the damage?"

"Plenty," Fury offered when he drew in his breath and prepared to tell them of the other problem they had to deal with. As if the problems they were dealing with were not enough.

* * *

A flash of light erupted in the air, with Harry dropping down to the ground. He sensed there was some high level of magic in the air although what the magic was, he had no idea. All he knew that he needed to walk forward and keep an ear out for everything. His eyes narrowed and he waited for it, the other shoe to drop.

"So do you have any idea what we're looking for?"

Ms. Marvel stated this statement but Harry mostly blocked it out so she cleared her throat to get him. There was still nothing, not even a blinking from him.

"He's in deep thought mode, Carol," Iron Man remarked when he watched Harry.

_'It's like this all of the time, the calmest day before the biggest storm,' _Harry thought to himself, blocking the Avengers out of his mind and trying to piece together what he needed to do.

"I thought I smelled wood burning," Hawkeye remarked with a smile crossing his face but that statement was ignored by him. "You know, they're called words..."

"Be silent," Harry stated when he listened and closed his eyes, feeling the magic around him.

A rumbling could be heard from beneath them, it shook the ground and Harry knew what was there.

"I've seen these guys before," Iron Man responded when he held his hands up. "More prison escapees!"

"You wish Stark; we busted out a long time ago, going to send you a message from the boss."

There they were, in all of their glory, first there was a tall black man dressed in a yellow body suit with metallic belts, wrist bands, and a neck collar with a mask over his face. His name was Bulldozer, and his eyes glowed with fury when he stepped forward cracking his knuckles. He had a nasty expression on his face when he eyed Iron Man.

The second of the individuals that fought them was another tall man with blonde hair, dressed in a white wife beater top and red pants ,with a red mask on. He stood before them, grimacing with a growl, and his name was simply known as Piledriver.

A third man was tall and black, dressed in green with yellow, and swinging a huge wrecking ball when he stepped forward. His name was Thunderball and he meant business like the rest of them.

The final member of this crew was a man dressed in a green bodysuit with a purple mask and purple gloves, where he stood tall. His name was Wrecker and he stepped forward, holding his crowbar. He patted it against his head, swinging it back and forth, before he gritted down on his teeth.

Together they were the Wrecking Crew and the Avengers had a few run ins with them. It was not pleasant at all.

"So, I'm guessing these guys are trouble," Harry remarked and there were a few nods. He smiled in spite himself and stood poised for battle. "Excellent."

Harry blasted a blue light out of his hand, which caused Wrecker's crowbar to weigh ten times its normal weight or at least the weight that he could hold up. He struggled and this allowed Black Widow to jump in, to kick him in the face, sending him down.

"Not a bad shot," Harry offered but she dodged the wrecking ball from Thunderball before Iron Man blasted it from his hands.

"Now that was a good shot," Iron Man stated but Piledriver knocked him from behind, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud. Stark rubbed his jaw and grimaced, before he commented in a pained voice. "And that's what I get for shooting my mouth off."

Ms Marvel dove forward and shouldered her enemy in the chest, knocking Piledriver backwards with her immense strength. She poured on the attack with punch after punch, knocking him down and cracking into his skin. He staggered, dropping to both knees and she grabbed him by the hair, before flinging him down with a great force.

Bulldozer cracked his knuckles but Hawkeye aimed an arrow and it shot towards him. He caught the arrow and snapped it nastily.

"Hah, try again," Bulldozer stated, when Thunderball got back to his feet, but Harry tripped him up and caused him to land hard on his face and neck.

"Will I do?"

Ms Marvel swung her fist and with a solid crack knocked Bulldozer in the back of the head, forcing him to fly ass over tea kettle before he landed on the ground, nearly flipping onto his back. He was down and out for the count and the heroine stood over him.

The Wrecking Crew were down on the ground after a short but intense battle. The group of would be heroes stood over them, looking rather pleased at their victory.

"You've got be kidding me, these guys, we barely broke a sweat," Hawkeye stated brushing his hands off. "I thought this was going to be some kind of huge threat."

"A threat yes, a huge one, not really, more like a distraction for something," Harry responded when he walked over and saw that the Wrecking Crew down on the ground vanished, before they crumbled into dust. "Constructs made for the sole purpose of distracting us."

Iron Man summed up the statement as only he could. "So we've been duped."

"Yes, they're trying to figure it...I don't know but this isn't good," Harry offered when he spun around, and looked at everything but he heard the humming.

A humming that got louder when he took a few more steps, he needed to fully assess the situation and then proceed.

"What is it?"

"Trouble."

Black Widow's eyes looked towards his before she casually responded with a simple, yet very annoyed, inquiry. "Could you be a bit more specific?"

"Someone is trying to branch the dimensional barriers between this world and some kind of nightmare dimension," Harry answered grimly before he cut off the obvious question. "As for which, I don't know, there are many, an infinite number of dastardly possibilities. I've seen these kind of portals before."

"Great you've seen them but shutting them down is a problem," Iron Man stated and Harry agreed.

"Yes, shutting them down...shutting them down is a problem," Harry responded, his voice breaking a little bit for the first time but he reigned himself in and kept his thoughts simple and fluid. "Shutting down the portal would save many of us but the problem is finding them before it's too late."

Ms Marvel offered a suggestion. "Do you think..."

"Tracking the energy signature, yes I can do that," Harry offered when he stepped forward and brushed his hair from his eyes, before he watched everything. The light began to blink a little bit around them. "The problem is there can be so many fake outs. Magic is what it is because there is no science whatsoever to it. There is no way to explain it no matter how much our people tried."

"It's one of those things that is," Black Widow stated and Harry nodded in confirmation, that was the easiest way he could have magic explained, if there ever was an explanation.

"Good to see someone gets the fundamental truth of magic."

Iron Man chimed in with some words of his own. "So I'm reminded why I'm not too fond of magic, I mean..."

"Bad experiences, yeah I know, I do it and I've had more than my share of bad experiences with it," Harry stated before he tracked the portal and flinched. He drew in his breath before he let it out. "Well isn't this a bitch."

"What, what is it?" Black Widow stated when she stood up and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle up but did not say anything more. Harry remained silent for a moment.

To say this was not good would be the understatement of the century but that was something that Harry dealt with more and more. He turned his head around a little bit, closing his eyes when he thought about it.

"Five, six, seven different portals opened up around the world, for what purpose, I don't know and to where I don't know," Harry offered when he turned his head around and stood on his heels. "I'd report back to Fury, I've got a situation that I have to deal with."

* * *

Harry knew that the Avengers meant well but this was one of those situations where despite their abilities, he was in way over their heads. These portals popping open all around the world made him think about what was going to happen. The young wizard stepped forward, hearing the humming in the warehouse. That meant he was perilously close to what he edged towards.

He knew by now not to run in throwing all caution to the wind because he suffered some kind of attack. The young wizard pushed himself forward and threw his head back, thinking about everything. The dark haired wizard turned his head around and walked across the warehouse, sticking through the shadows.

He saw a group of men dressed in green bodysuits with eye goggles on. On their suits, there was a patch with a yellow snake on it with multiple heads. Harry stood rigid, he noticed the symbol. He took a brief look at Fury's computer when he was not looking, managing to get an assessment on some of the top threats in the world.

There was no threat that was more dangerous than HYDRA. Harry became invisible in the shadows and edged closer, soon he got there, all he had to do was walk closer.

"Phase two of our plan reaches completion," stated the man dressed in purple with a pink facemask and white eye holes. He had a black belt around him. "Phase three will be next."

"You better hold up your end of the bargain, Zemo."

"My dear, you don't have to worry about me holding up my end of the deal, our little group will make us masters of this world," Zemo stated when he stood tall and proud. "Captain America is mine to deal with, you can have Thor as your pet, and for the rest of the Avengers..."

"Annihilate them."

Zemo bowed his head before he checked to the magical gems that were hooked up to the machine. He turned with a malicious smile, when it dripped from his voice.

"Soon the Avengers will be no more, and we will be supreme. HAIL HYDRA!"

"HAIL H..."

A loud crack echoed when half of the HYDRA officers found themselves taken down to the ground with one swift attack. Zemo spun around, pulling out a sword, before he stood tall. His remaining agents crowded around him and their hearts thumped over their chests.

"There's someone here," Zemo whispered, backing off with the sword brandished in his hand. "Show yourself and your death might be a bit less..."

The sword summoned from his hand and landed with a clatter. One by one by one, the HYDRA agents were hung upside down and then they flew backwards with a giant crack of their spines. They flopped to the ground like a jelly fish and could barely even move from the attacks they received.

"I know you're here, show yourself," Zemo responded when he put his hands up in the air and aimed for the attack.

Harry swooped around; he could see that HYDRA was getting nervous and he endeavored to use their nerves against them. They brought out the big guns and he had to be careful. If he established some sort of pattern, it would be easier for them to find him despite his lack of visibility. He swung around the area and stuck to the wall, carefully edging through a little bit, his knees knocking together a little bit. He drew in a breath and drew out a breath, before he clapped his hands together and put himself deep into thought.

A loud explosion rang out and Harry dodged behind the crates, before he put up shield to block the attack from striking him.

Then there was an eerie amount of silence registered and Harry's head thumped, thumped, thumped, when he twisted his head around, turning himself a little bit. The young wizard waited and saw that the portal completely opened.

_'Oh boy, please let it be the cute fluffy bunnies dimension,' _Harry thought himself, even though cute fluffy bunnies could be rather dangerous if provoked, as Luna demonstrated to him one time. But that was beside the point.

The bright flashes of light swirled around him and the remaining HYDRA agents backed up in trepidation before Harry stepped back. He held his hand up, ready to fight whatever came through the portal. Whatever it was, he could not allow it to get out in the city.

A part of him wished that he had some back up but he did not want to involve anyone else in the situation as he dealt with it. There was one of those times where Harry stepped around resolved to fight things for better or for worse, before turning his head around and put his hands on his hips. He blinked a little bit and drew in a breath before he saw it flash through the portal.

Yeah it was hideous but that was a statement that went without saying. There was a beat of his heart that went by steady when he turned to face his latest adversary. Black tentacles grabbed the hapless HYDRA agents that were stupid enough to crowd around the portal. There was a crunch of bones and a splattering of blood, that spilled on the ground when the creature attacked the hapless nameless minion that was too stupid to move away from the portal.

Harry watched the HYDRA blood splatter on his shoes and he paused for a little bit.

Its skin was slimy black, like tar and it leaked to the ground. It had one eye, blue and and bloodshot, that peered to him. It had a wide gaping mouth with more sharp teeth than should be allowed by lie. And it had thirteen tentacles and all of them were poised to feed on anything that got near it before the creature completely exited out of the portal.

Harry summoned his full power and blasted it in the eye with a bolt of red light. The curse caused it to be blinded, at least temporarily. He managed to find the gem and mutter under his breath in a strangled and incomprehensible tongue, hoping the incantation would work.

And it could shoot bolts of magic from its tentacles which blew men to dust. That made things even better. Thankfully it was the HYDRA troops that got it and not Harry.

Harry summoned all of his power and blasted it again, and again, before pushing him towards the portal. His knees staggered when he was about ready to drop to the ground. He sealed the portal somehow, pushing himself to his limits.

Thankfully, Harry did not black out because he would die in shame if he did. He was dizzy and grabbed onto the wall, his knees sinking underneath him when he remained on his feet and he shook off everything.

"And it's like this all over the world," Harry responded but Zemo was gone.

They had far bigger problems than Zemo, who or what were they trying to release?

* * *

A deep rumbling voice could be heard from a dimension made of fire. He was glowing and his eyes glowed with a demonic orange fury.

"Soon, I will be free, once those fools are manipulated in opening the proper portal. The Enchantress and Zemo think that they are under control of this but their Masters of Evil will be my puppets."

All he had to do is wait, soon all would burn.

**To Be Continued in the Next Part. **


	3. Part III

**Part Three.**

Harry thought that previous battle could have went far better. Actually he shook his head a little bit, his heart thumping across his chest. His knees felt a bit weak but he pushed himself forward as much as he could. He refused to drop down to the ground, even though things looked pretty bad, actually things looking pretty bad was the understatement of the century. This was one of the worst pains he had felt in an extremely long time.

He made his way to the SHIELD headquarters, feeling rattled. Closing that portal took a little bit more out of him than he thought it would. They were dealing with some extremely powerful and potent magic. Whoever or whatever they were trying to summon, well that guy wanted out in the worst way. Harry could not think of any other statement than that. He made sure to keep himself standing up tall. He carefully listened for anyone and saw the Black Widow.

"There you are you ran off...are you injured?" Black Widow stated when she saw the fact that Harry looked flush in the face.

Harry stood up straight, he trained himself to block out all forms of pain and power on through. And he trained himself to push his body that extra mile because if he could push himself beyond the capabilities of his opponents, he would be able to do what he needed to do. His heart told a different story and it warned him against what he was trying to do. Perhaps this was not such a good idea but he refused to go down despite everything. He shook his head.

"So you're not injured?" Black Widow stated in a crisp voice but suspicion reigned supreme on her. Harry coughed a little bit when he rubbed his chest but he stood up straight. "You should get whatever happened to you looked at..."

"No doctors, I'm sure Fury wants to know what happened," Harry stated when he felt the ringing in his head that he tried his best to suppress.

"Alright, I'll fetch him, sit down right now," Natasha stated, before she turned around and walked off.

Harry sat down, not because she told him to, but because his legs collapsed underneath him. He stood on spaghetti legs and was barely able to get up to a standing position. To say this was a bad thing would be a gross understatement, this was one of the worst things that Harry ever experienced and it proved that it would get worse. He tried to keep himself standing tall whilst he waited for Fury to make his triumphant return, when his eyes closed a little bit.

Harry let the breath out that he been holding. He saw Fury walk up, with Hawkeye, Iron Man, Ms Marvel, and Thor. The Prince of Thunder surveyed Harry for a second before his honest assessment was offered.

"It seems like you've bitten off a little more than you can chew," Thor stated when he looked at Harry but the young man's gaze was crisp and he did not even blink for a moment. All he allowed himself was a moment to adjust himself and to stay the course, before he answered this statement.

"One might say that, yes," Harry responded when he rubbed the shoulder but he got back up to his feet.

"What's the damage?" Fury asked when he gazed at Harry. "My sensors have located the energy readings. These portals, if that's what they are, they're popping up in every which way."

"Yes that's what they are," Harry added when he rubbed the top of his head, trying to think about what happened. This was not one would call an ideal situation, to put things bluntly.

Actually to put things bluntly, this situation sucked.

The portals kept opening, likely faster than he could close them. The fact he was able to seal one portal, that was an accomplishment that Harry took plenty of pride in. However, his job was only halfway done and he could tell by the eyes that were on him. Harry refused to admit that he was defeated, not now.

"Thor had a point, you did bite off more than you can chew" Iron Man stated when he gazed at Harry, his facemask popping open. "My scanners picked up...well it picked up a bit of a problem."

"And that problem is..."

"The portals opened and the shut themselves, and they popped up at different locations," Iron Man responded to Harry. Tony Stark tried his best to gauge Harry's reaction or at least what he wanted it to be. Harry said nothing, at least at the moment. So he pressed on forward. "I was thinking that if we could determine some kind of location or perhaps pattern where these portals are opening, than maybe just maybe..."

"We can figure out what the end game is," Harry offered when he looked at Stark who nodded. "It is worth a shot but technology cannot accurately predict the patterns of magic."

Stark's eyebrows raised up a slight bit but he did not say anything, at least not at the moment. He thought that his technology was top of the line but perhaps he was mistaken. Harry was the expert here after all.

"And how many of those portals can you shut down?" Fury asked, cutting through with the question all of them wanted to know.

Harry paused, calculating every single angle in his mind before he responded in his most crisp tone of voice. "As many of them as I can before I pass out."

"Pass out or worse?"

Harry did not even dignify that question with a remark, he barely even figured out who it came from but that was beside the point. It was time to focus on winning this battle. He had far more important things to worry about when he got to his feet. Once again, he felt the aches, the pains, the bumps, and the bruises but that was blocked out of his mind. He could not focus on that now, he had to focus on trying to figure out a way to save the world. And the alternative if he failed would not be something that was all that pretty.

He did know one thing and he had to admit it, even if it was grudgingly and through gritted teeth.

"I may need a little back up," Harry responded when he looked at them before he decided to ammend his statement so the ball was most certainly in his court. "And by back up, I mean you're working with me and I'm not working for you. Remember that Fury."

"Whatever you say," Fury stated with a dismissive wave of his hand, he knew the type that Harry Potter was, he hated to rely on anyone. In some ways, Fury sympathized with him, he was a lot like that in his own way, stubborn and headstrong but at the end of the day, there needed to be some kind of solidarity.

Harry could tell by Fury's simmering gaze that he wanted for the mage to break down and admit that help was needed but The Boy-Who-Lived refused to cave in. This was a battle that he did not want anyone involved in, yet they were involved in. For better or for worse, most often for worse, they were involved in this business. And now Harry had to figure out what was best for him.

"Yes, we'll figure out a plan, I still think that my energy scanner plan will work, if we give it a chance," Iron Man responded when he turned towards Harry, offering him a chance to confirm or deny that claim.

"Whilst I do not know much about science, I do think that there is a chance that his plan will work," Thor agreed when he looked upon the young sorcerer before him.

"Try it but if it doesn't work, we'll scrap it," Harry responded at a moment's novice.

"Right, JARVIS, we're locking into the system, let's see if we can pinpoint the proper portals," Stark remarked when he threw his head back and prepared for the next phase in his plan.

* * *

"How difficult is it I wonder when I give you instructions, to follow them precisely to the letter. To step forward and to open the proper portal, so you do not mess up with what I tell you? I wonder if I could train a primate to do what you've done, for if you had opened the right portal in the right location, we would be done by now and power would be in our hands."

The Enchantress was not a happy woman when she watched Baron Zemo, who escaped with less than a handful of HYDRA agents. There was a moment where the leader of the group looked at her but to his credit, he did not blink. There would be few that would be able to stare this woman in the eye without backing down and Zemo counted himself amount the proud that could. He backed down from no man and most certainly no woman.

"It was a minor setback," Zemo stated in a crisp voice when he stared down this woman, the things he would do to her once he had the chance. Yet, he needed her to grab the keys to ultimate power for himself.

"You make these excuses to cover up the fact that you are inadequate and not worthy of the power which I could potentially gift you," Enchantress responded in her most crisp voice, without missing a beat. Her eyes burned through Zemo and she wished to stomp him like the cockroach that he is. "This group, our partnership must not have any more foul ups. The Avengers near closer and with them Thor."

"Yes, your precious Thor, tell me, do you pine for him at night?" Zemo asked in a mocking manner but Enchantress raised a hand, sparks flying from her hand when she waved her hand and her eyes glowed with malicious fury. "I trust that I have struck a nerve of some sort."

"You do not know what you have struck so remain silent," Enchantress stated when her eyes flashed a little bit. "I wish to do what I must to salvage your blunder and let us hope that for your sake the person that I am conversing about is not going to look too poorly upon this."

"What are you afraid of?" Zemo asked, the Enchantress gave him nothing but vague words and promises of power. Someone like Zemo was not about to give up without a fight and his eyes narrowed when he clutched his hands together. "What are you dealing with, what have we blundered into? HYDRA is down several men and I demand explanations, and I demand them immediately."

Enchantress's eyes flashed in annoyance when her hands clutched together. No one should be able to demand anything of her, she was rather strong. The blonde woman turned her head when she rubbed her hands together and fury simmered through her eyes when she stared down Zemo.

"You are not to demand anything of me, Zemo, remember that, I have the keys to this in my hand."

Enchantress spun around, when Zemo stood over. The figure in the shadows looked at him.

"Let the witch do what she must, but we may need to take control," Zemo stated in an undertone when the Enchantress left. "The Avengers may be after you but you can take control of anyone, is that correct?"

"Only if I am in close proximity," the man stated when he clutched his hands together.

"That is acceptable enough," Zemo stated when he peered over his shoulder his shoulder when he waited for the next thing to happen. "The Masters of Evil will grow, I've gathered a few men. The Living Laser, Rhino, and others, they have agreed to work for me and the Enchantress. But I have to know where your loyalty lies. Does it lie with me or does it lie elsewhere?"

"I will do what I can to avoid being locked up again," The Purple Man responded from the shadows, but he had his own agenda and would take control for himself if he could. If he timed this correctly, he could have both Zemo and the Enchantress dancing as puppets, but it would need every bit of will power on his behalf to do this.

"Your talents will be appreciated," Zemo agreed when he turned around to mull everything over in his mind.

The world could be in the palm of his hand. With the Red Skull out of the picture, at least as of late, Zemo decided he was going to grab hold of everything for himself. The keys of the world were going to be snatched into his hands. All he needed to do was find the proper lock to open the door and allow himself that moment of clarity, that moment where he would accomplish great things.

And great things would be coming when Zemo stood forward, high above the minds of anyone else. He took a moment to mull over everything. Ever since the war, he suffered greatly from an encounter he had with Captain America. Now he woke up in this time, much like Captain America did, and he saw that he was beloved, a member of the Avengers. His eyes closed when he thought about it, nearly smirking out of the side of his mouth when he imagined the image. His hands around the throat of Captain America and the Star Spangled Avenger down on his knees, that was the image that danced in his mind. Other powerful men kneeling before him excited Zemo.

That would be a great moment, he mused before stepping forward to plot the next phase in the plan.

"The Avengers could be circling the known bases, I trust you'd deal with them in time," Zemo responded when he cracked his knuckles. "Shoot to kill but bring Captain America before me. Although, Thor belongs to the Enchantress, so give her something shiny to pacify her if you kill the Thunder God. This chemical will enhance your pheromones for twenty four hours."

'_And also kill you once my use for you has passed,' _Zemo added mentally to himself.

Zemo paused when he gave that statement and waited for the answer that the Purple Man would give him.

"Understood."

It was understood but would the orders be carried out, before Zemo's head twisted when he took a moment to recall everything. The plan was mulling over his head

* * *

Harry arrived with the Avengers following behind him. Black Widow, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Ms Marvel walked beside him, the dust being kicked up. The second team of Avengers featuring Black Panther, Captain America, Hulk, and Spider Woman would follow behind him, the estimated time they would join them would be approximately ten minutes. Harry could not worry about that now, he worried about finding the next portal and shutting it down.

The good news was that Stark's technology and his magic matched up pretty well, although not as well as people would have hoped. The bad news was neither tracking implement was precise. Harry learned by now not to trust anything but his own eyes and even then, he was fifty-fifty to how much he worked it. He took everything into his mind and watched what was before him, screwing his eyes shut when he thought about everything that he had to do.

_'I could get close,' _Harry thought to himself when he clicked his fingers on the side.

"So what is..."

Hawkeye remained silent when he heard a loud and annoying laughter. It was like nails on a chalkboard when it echoed through his head. He cringed and he was not the only one that was cringing.

"That's...what is that?" Iron Man asked when he saw a group of flying monkeys that moved around.

"Those are...flying monkeys?" Black Widow stated, her eyes moving down and blinking, as if she could not believe what she saw.

"What madness is this?" Thor asked when he held his hammer up and was ready for a fight.

"I'm guessing this next portal was opened to Oz," Iron Man commented when he blasted the winged demons.

Harry did not think that it would be that simple but that was not it. His heart thumped against his chest when the next move was plotted in the back of the mind of this wizard.

"So I'm guessing we follow the yellow brick road?" Hawkeye asked when he loaded up his arrows and shot at them.

Harry knew what he had to do now and he spun around. "Keep them from coming into the city, I'll find the focal point and shut the portal down."

The demonic flying monkeys shot out, but Thor sent a blast of lighting, to fry the monkeys. These weren't cute little critters, they had sharp vampire like teeth, glowing dark eyes, and razor sharp finger nails. They snarled practically when they moved forwards their attacks and Ms. Marvel blasted them with an energy attack.

"Something tells me that SHIELD basic training needs to be revised to cover this," she stated blandly, the blonde haired hero moving around, before she knocked them around, before she continued to blast them hard and caused them to fly backwards. "Yeah it's in desperate need of some kind of revision because otherwise...it's not going down without a fight."

Hawkeye grunted before he aimed his arrow and began to shoot the arrows carefully, before he aimed at them, firing in a rapid fire fury, before he knocked his enemies out of the air. "That goes without saying."

"Yeah no kidding," Iron Man responded when he armed his wrist blasters and shot the beams towards them. Said beams flew through the air with a crackling fury, before the flying monkey demons or whatever they were knocked down to the ground, spiraling with fury.

"Such pests," Thor remarked when his eyes glowed, when he smacked them with his trusty hammer, before they exploded in dust particles. They nastily smashed into bits, which was disgusting but never the less extremely effective.

"Brutal as it is, Thor has the right idea," Iron Man stated, hoping that their back up would come soon.

Sure enough he did not have to wait for too long.

The Hulk thundered forward, leaping into the air high before he landed down onto the ground, clapping his hands down to the ground. The critters flew backwards, being knocked down to the ground, and they flew backwards, knocking them to the ground, before they flew backwards. The creatures were taken out completely and Hulk snorted before he turned around.

"Heh, they're not so tough," Hulk grunted when he put his hands together before drawing them apart and clapping them loudly which sent the little critters flying backwards.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Spider Woman responded before she took out her enemies.

"He's trying to shut the portal," Black Widow stated when she knocked them back.

"Then we will get him the time we need," Black Panther responded when he held up his blades and knocked his enemies backwards, causing them to splatter with blood. They were made out of vibranium and could cut through anything, including mystical flying monkeys. His attacks might be a bit nasty, but they were effective and did the job.

Harry slipped off, he tried to direct as many of the attackers back through the portal as he could but he found it much more of a challenge than previously believed. He needed to find the portal focus and then he could shut it tight. It was a matter of finding the right frequency to shut it but if he could find it, then he would be able to get it there.

It was all a matter of careful calculation although he was reminded that if he made one slip up, the floodgates were opened. He began to herd his nasty little demons back towards the portal, swinging his fists, and trying to lure them carefully, with little jolts of magic when they staggered through the portal. They managed to fall for the trick, at least enough where Harry would be able to allow them to surf on through the portal. His heart steadily beat and he knew that whatever his plan was working, he had to seal the portal with all of the alive demons inside.

The demons that were injured, they would not be injured for long, and Harry's eyes raised up when he saw them carefully hover around. The Avengers did their work to do what they must to lure them back into the portal, where they would hopefully remain forever more. His hands clenched together, when he closed his eyes and locked his mind on the energy signature of the portal. He did hope that this would work because if it did not work, well they were kind of screwed. Only in a moment would they know. He moved his head around and carefully summoned all of his power, before he locked onto the portal. His body shook but he ignored the shakes that he was having and powered on through.

Miracles did in fact happen, in the form of the portal closing. He felt that this portal was harder to close than the last one. Whoever opened these things, well they suffered some sustaining power.

"So, you got it shut?"

Harry could not quite tell who said that question, there was a buzzing in his ears when he moved around. He carefully rocked around and thankfully there was a wall that he could lean against, because falling backwards to the ground was not on his agenda for today. The group rushed over towards him but he waved them off. He felt fine.

Okay he felt like he was going to throw up parts of his ribcage after he closed the portal. But other than that, he felt fine, more than fine. Harry Potter felt spectacular.

"I think I got the energy signature of the portal and might be able to rig up something to remotely shut them down," Iron Man responded but Harry's gaze fixed on him.

"Or you could get us all sucked into a black hole."

"Or that," Iron Man agreed, he figured that was a possibility, although one that he did not really want to think about at this time. "But none of us will know unless we try it and I can tell that manually closing those portals takes a lot out of you. And something is bound to slip through next time before you can get it shut."

As much as Harry loathed to admit it, Stark had a point, at least somewhat of one.

Still Harry was not completely sure.

* * *

"The portal energy has slowed down to a crawl, at least for the moment."

Stark offered that statement to them all and Harry clarified it with a nod when he watched the energy readings taper off. The truth was the portals that were opened, were shut on their own accord when he manually shut the first two portals. That made Harry a tad bit more nervous than he felt that he should be but he did wonder why. If the portals shut on their own accord, that meant that whoever was doing this only had one purpose in mind.

"Trial run."

Stark raised an eyebrow before he watched Harry. "I beg your pardon."

"This wasn't supposed to be anything of value, it was supposed to be a trial run, to let something far more dangerous out," Harry responded, when he spun around away from the group. The intent gaze on his face was not something that he wanted.

"It could be anything as there are many dangerous fiends out there," Thor offered carefully to him.

Harry thought that to be a prudent belief to have but he was at a complete loss to accurately pinpoint what dangerous thing would be coming out of the portal. He mulled over the situation carefully in his mind, not knowing that they were waiting for an answer. An answer would be given to them in due time when he figured out what he had to go up against. And said answer would not be given to them at all a second before.

The problem was that there were many things that Harry reckoned would be summoned through that portal or any other portal. The demonic monkeys and the evil tentacle monsters were the tip of some kind of destructive iceberg, when his eyes narrowed in intense concentration. He flashed back to the times where people messed with magic, with everything crossing things in his mind, and he flashed back.

It was after that final battle with Voldemort, he had some kind of failsafe that summoned a horrific being from some dimension. His followers only followed orders, many of them were consumed in the attack and very few if any survived. Actually none of them survived, and that started up the Liberator's Movement. Voldemort knew what he was doing, he felt that the world should not be allowed to survive and given the abject stupidity of most wand wavers, Harry was not certain that he was completely wrong.

"So, the portal opens up here and here, and a third portal was tracked to her, Harry stated, finally jumping in with an answer, carefully figuring out that he needed to do out and he thought carefully.

"The portals have shut down but the real question is where they were trying to open."

"You could give people a heart attack, that way, Fury," Stark responded when he watched.

"I think that's part of his charm," Carol offered when she turned around and addressed the Director of SHIELD.

"So...what's the damage this time?" Hawkeye asked but Fury locked his one eye on Harry.

"I was hoping that the expert I brought on would be the one who would tell me that one."

"Fine, you want my expert opinion on it," Harry responded when he spun around. "Here's the thing, this is the second time that I saw these portals open. The first time was fifteen years ago. The person that I defeated, he was a dark lord that made people piss their pants to the fact that they would not even say his name, and he was one that did not take his defeat lying down like a man. He triggered some kind of charm that would open up the portal and well...many people died."

Harry shook his head for the briefest of moments before he continued with his speech.

"And that is people who deserved it and people who were caught in the crossfire. I will be blunt, there are a lot of people in that world who were too stupid to live but a lot of people...they had promise, but they were eventually dragged down to that level. I tried to keep up the fight but I eventually gave up. It wouldn't help that a group of idiot bigots decided to take control."

"That Liberator's Movement you talked about," Natasha stated when she eyed Harry.

"They were just a small symptom to an overall problem," Harry answered her crisply and carefully, when he spun around to choose his words quit carefully. He remained rigid. "There are people from that world that I miss, but that's beside the point. They need not die, just like anyone need not die."

The Avengers crowded around each other when they understood what Harry was going through. He did not tend to trust easily because those who he trusted they ended up dying. It was something that they understood on some level. They had all suffered loss in some ways, some more so than others.

"The Liberator's Movement, they were pawns for something else, so was AIM and so was HYDRA, they're all being led around by someone," Harry offered to them before Thor stood up straight and spoke crisply.

"Amora."

Harry blinked for a moment, this name came completely out of left field and he wished to clarify the statement from Thor one hundred percent of the way. "I beg your pardon."

"The Enchantress," Thor responded when he looked at Harry and decide to clarify his statement more and why this was a bad thing. "She's a sorceress, she's from Asgard, and she's been known to cause her share of trouble in her pursuit of me."

"So she hates you," Stark responded when he looked at him.

"If it only was that simple," Thor commented in a grim voice. "She is utterly and madly in love with me and won't stop any nothing for her pursuit towards me."

Stark offered a sympathetic smile carefully looking at Thor and almost reaching forward to pat him on the shoulder. "I know how that goes, my friend, believe me, I do."

"So all of this is because of some jilted girlfriend," Black Widow responded, unable to believe that all this could be over something that absurd.

Harry snorted, he wished that it could be that simple but rarely it was.

"I'm not even sure if the Enchantress is the main culprit, as formidable as she might be," Harry responded when he fixed his eyes on the God of Thunder. "And I trust that she is a rather formidable foe."

"Yes, very much so," Thor responded when he carefully eyed Harry for a little bit.

"And that means she could be shuttled around like a pawn on a chessboard, if she was led to believe that she could get to you," Harry responded when he placed a hand on the side of his head. He closed his eyes when he carefully tapped onto the frequency of the portal. He wondered if his frequent attempts to lock onto magic looked as freaky to outside observers as he thought it would be. His eyes went wide when the power flowed within and without of him.

"Anyone home?" Hawkeye asked when he paused.

Harry did not say anything, at least for a moment.

"I've found out them trying to open a portal but I can stop it before it's even opening," Harry stated, but Fury turned around.

"Widow, go with him, report back if you need any help," Fury responded and Natasha nodded.

"If you think you can keep up with me," Harry responded and the Black Widow smiled.

"Oh believe me, there's no man that I haven't been able to keep up with so far," she responded, but Harry turned around.

"I'm sure we'll see before too long," Harry answered when he closed his eyes. "I suppose you're going to need to hitch a ride so I can transport us there. And that tracking device your pocket should make Fury find out where we are going, won't it?"

"Just a fail safe in case things go south," Black Widow responded but Harry offered a smirk towards her.

"Right."

The truth was Harry did not mind the fact that she kept a tracer on them. All he needed was a careful calculation when he moved forward. He locked eyes along with arms with the red head spy. He had been too busy trying to play duck and dodge to really notice her before this point.

"Hang on," Harry answered, when they disappeared in a flash of light and she hung on tightly, gripping onto his arm.

"So what's the worst that can happen?" Hawkeye asked when he stared at the group.

"I don't think any of us want to answer that question," Fury responded, he hated when that question was asked. It offered so many damning possibilities that he did not want to think about.

* * *

Silence was something that was bliss to everyone, unless of course one went inside an enemy base. Then silence was something that was extremely alarming. Harry knew that there was times where everything was silent, a bit too silent around him when he entered the enemy base. The silence held on for a little bit, at least until the moment where something jumped out and attacked him. What would jump out and attack him now. Harry could not say. He kept up on his feet, tension and Black Widow held a gun out, aiming for anything that moved.

Not that a gun would help them much if it was some demonic creature. Bullets tended to be shockingly ineffective against magic users. Spells were much faster than bullets. And magic users got injured a lot less than normal mundane human beings. He carefully stepped around, negating the arms and frying them. It was a simple enough EMP charge that very few magical users were incapable of. Harry realized that they could bring people to their knees with a little creativity.

Of course, then the Muggles would bring out the heavy weapons and then everyone would be destroyed.

"Be careful," Harry whispered to Black Widow when he carefully took a moment to step around.

There was a rumbling sound around them that caused Harry to stand up straighter. He did not scare easily, but there were things that happened that caused him to stand on the side of being careful. And when there was a mysterious humming noise that was at the top of the list of things that was careful with. He was pleased to know that his companion had some of the similar instincts that he did. That would make it easier to deal with because if he had to keep an eye on her, there would be trouble.

_'And there's trouble,' _Harry thought when he heard the humming from the other side. He stopped and stared, before he stood rigid. He got a full look at the situation, blending into the shadows. Black Widow went around to the other side to corner them. _'So HYDRA, again, well that's just great, isn't it?"_

Harry wanted to find out what their stake was in this but before he could think too much about this, there was a loud crack above. The ground cracked beneath his feet, when it rocked the ground underneath him. Thankfully, he hovered above the ground and was not seen. Black Widow was equally nimble on his feet.

There was a large psychotic laughter and Zemo eyed the thing on the other end of the portal.

"Shut it down, it's too dangerous for HYDRA!" Zemo yelled to his men.

One of his men stammered. "It's not responding."

For the first time ever, SHIELD and HYDRA were in agreement that whatever was going to come through that portal was not going to be good. The air grew cold around them.

**To Be Continued in Part Four. **


	4. Part IV

**Part IV.**

It was an interesting state of affairs when HYDRA was forced to join forces with some of their most hated enemies. Then again, said enemies were not too happy of having to join forces with HYDRA either. The Black Widow took a stance, pointing a gun towards the opening of the portal before she began to fire with rapid fire shots. Two and three shots were fired off at the same time.

"So, any advice?" Natasha panted when she eyed the portal, her heart beating and Harry turned to her before he nodded.

"Yeah, I wouldn't get hit, scratched, or bitten by any of them," Harry responded when he whipped his wrist and sent the demons flying through the portal, causing them to fly through the portal. Water cancelled fire rather well and he conjured several ice cold jets of it before he sent it through the portal.

There was a loud blood curdling scream and one of the demons locked his eye onto one of the HYDRA agents. The HYDRA agent sized up, turned into stone, before he crumbled into dust that fell to the ground. His blood flowed on the ground.

"And don't make eye contact with any of them, for the love of Zeus!" Harry yelled when he conjured the water daggers and threw them at the fire demons. There was a direct hit which wounded them.

Back through the portal, back through the portal, back through the portal, that was a mantra that flowed through Harry's head. This one might have either been the one or the test run for a bigger portal, regardless, Harry had to keep with the pace, and he threw himself up into the air. He had to find the focus stone and fast.

"Take them down for HYDRA!"

HYDRA goons stepped forward, before one of the fire demons swooped down and grabbed the hapless minion around the head before his head was ripped off. They all grimaced before they made an about face and retreated in the other direction. The pitter-patter of little HYDRA feet could be heard and they were always a wildcard that had to be mitigated.

"Well this isn't going as planned, we need back up," Black Widow responded when she reached for her communication but Harry grabbed her wrist to stop her. This caused her eyes to spin around and look at him before she stated in an exasperated manner. "Are you insane?"

"Yes, but that's not the point," Harry responded when he used his magic to burst the pipes and ice cold jets of water flew out towards the demons, drenching them with water. The demons gave a blood curdling scream when the water, then the ice got them. "If we need back up, well, I think that there's a handy little duplication spell that I can use."

Harry closed his eyes carefully, before he duplicated into three versions of himself, then six versions, then twelve, before all of them held their water swords out. The demons swirled around the portal but Harry knew what to do against them by now.

'_Water is such an unfortunate Achilles heel, considering it's so plentiful,' _Harry thought and he transfigured her gun slightly.

"Try shooting your gun at them now," Harry responded to Black Widow.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, the gun did not work the first time, not to mention it was a tricky challenge to shoot at something someone could not see. Granted, that did not mean that she was unable to do it. She aimed her weapon before she began to fire the projectiles out, lead bullets encased in capsules of ice water. They stuck into the demons and exploded with a large boom, causing them to fill up before they dropped to the ground.

"Destroy her."

Natasha rolled her eyes, if she had a dollar for every time she heard that line, she could retire to an island paradise.

"Any luck in shutting the portal down?" Natasha asked Harry, trying not to sound impatient.

"Working on it," Harry responded but the purple blasts of light shot from the portal towards both of them. Harry dodged them, but they were fast. "Unfortunately, I don't think this portal wants to be closed any time soon."

That was the huge problem with this thing but that was one that Harry had to navigate around. If he could only find the locator stone he would have a chance to seal the portal shut. He was almost there, edging closer and closer yet. The young wizard slid underneath the heavy blasts from the portal and flipped himself up into the air, before landing carefully onto his feet.

Natasha screamed when one of the blasts impacted her in the shoulder. At first, she pressed on through.

"I wouldn't…." Harry responded, when he saw her eyes glaze over a little bit but Natasha shook her head, biting down on her lip.

"I'm fine, carry on," Natasha breathed heavily when she fired towards the demons. She experienced far worse when she fought against the forces of HYDRA and other enemies that she fought.

Harry watched her; she was saying that she was fine in the same sense that he was fine when he was less than fine. He watched the portal, he tried to figure out a way to seal it shut. His mouth got rather thin when he watched the portal flicker a little bit and something on the other side.

There was something hideous on the other side but there was nothing that Harry could not handle. At least mostly, he propelled himself forward towards the portal. Hands extended, heart beating, and ice spikes blasting from his hands, knocking the demons in the chest, sending them flying backwards with furious fury.

He found the stone, putting up the right shield which would allow enough movement while also not getting blasted by those purple lights.

"Stop him, cease his movements, he must not…."

What Harry must not do, he never did hear, as he slammed his hands down on the pedestal, and cracked it, before he sealed the portal shut. There was a blinding flash of light that sent him spiraling backwards and he landed down on the ground with a huge crash. His shoulder cracked on the ground, but he got back up, cradling his shoulder when he turned around a little bit.

Natasha blacked out on the ground. Harry, to his credit, did not freak out because that would not get her the medical attention that she needed. He swooped forward and scooped her up in his arms, holding her carefully up and he disappeared with her in a flash.

He had a feeling that this was not over, there was just something that caused him a great deal of uneasiness.

* * *

"Another portal opened, another portal shut, what are they doing?"

Nick Fury paced back and forth like a caged animal, which given what people knew about Fury, that was far from a good thing. There were the legions of slaughtered HYDRA officers which made their job a lot easier. Although it did make them worry that HYDRA was unleashing something that they could not even control. The Director of SHIELD turned his head around slightly, before he edged himself away from the view screen and kept his eyes on Harry.

"So what are you doing with this?"

Harry threw his hands up into the air. "I'm trying to save the world from something dangerous and if you want details, you're going to get them. As many as I've managed to piece together at any rate."

Harry Potter was never one to lack a flair for the dramatics and he paused for a brief moment when he tried to figure out everything in regards to the portal being open and shut. The young wizard carefully bit down on lip before he turned around. Currently Natasha was getting medical attention but thankfully the blast only hit her in the shoulder and not in any vital areas.

"Magic can be capable of some nasty and cruel things," Harry responded in a delicate voice. "I should know, many of them happened to me. When they say burn the witch, it's normally because the witch tried to burn something first."

"Sounds to me you think that your people deserve to be persecuted," Fury responded but Harry held up his hand.

"I would say that, if I had any confidence that you'd get the right ones, which you rarely do,' Harry responded before clearing his throat an dhe continued. "The Salem Witch Burnings, not one of them was a legit witch or wizard, just Muggles, and they were innocents, caught in the crossfire. And they were dangerously taken down, because they were mistaken for someone with magical powers. Likely framed by someone with real magical powers, because they found it funny to see some innocent Muggle burned at the stake."

Harry paused; in fact he would not be surprised if actual magical users were the ones that masterminded the so called witch hunts. That seemed to be down the road of their twisted nature, there was something about magic that drove about eighty percent of its users to either sadism or stupidity. Which one was worse, well their mileage might in fact vary greatly when answering that query.

Harry got back to the matter at hand, when he spun around to properly face Fury.

"Magic is capable of a lot of things, many things that I cannot even begin to explain to you but I'm sure if we clear some time out of our schedules in between the world ending, I'm sure I can do my best," Harry responded when his eyes flashed a little bit.

"The world's ending…."

"HYDRA is dabbling in forces that are beyond their comprehension, your comprehension, and I barely comprehend it," Harry answered when he continued to speak in riddles. It was a hazard of being around Dumbledore for years. "But here is something you can understand, this picture."

Harry waved his hand and a large picture of a village was show on the wall of the SHIELD facility, with fire demons surrounding the table and a large monster in the background, his eyes glowing, watching the ashen remains of the people around. His brutality was something that could not be denied.

"This has happened before and this is your fate if we don't find the master portal rune," Harry responded when he shrugged his shoulders.

"This….this has happened before," Fury stated, it was rare when the grizzled Director of SHIELD looked rather unnerved when he edged carefully around studying the picture. His eye was locked on the photo and not blinking at all.

"By the Allfather, this is much worse than you could ever realize."

Thor showed up when he eyed the picture, the images that flashed before him.

"I'm glad that I'm not the only person who realizes the gravity of the situation we're in," Harry responded when he spun around to face Thor. The Prince of Thunder, the Son of Odin, watched him carefully eying him.

"Whatever it is, we'll stop it," Captain America stated when he turned up next and eyed it. Sure that was carnage.

"Do you have an idea when this happened?" Ms Marvel asked in a hushed voice, she had been monitoring the conversation in the background for a little bit but she did not have any cause to jump in until now.

Harry's face twisted into a tired smile before he decided to drop the other bombshell on them.

"A thousand years ago, there were four powerful magical users; they founded a school of magic, that was magical."

"Repetition much," Hawkeye stated when he turned up but Thor eyed him warningly.

"Now is not the time archer," Thor responded when he watched Harry. "Continue your tale."

Continue his tale was what Harry did, he drew in his breath before he began to speak once again. A resolved expression spread over his he face. "The four founders formed a school but before they even did that, they were forced to join forces. They were from different backgrounds and had many clashes in opinions."

'_In some ways, the way the house system was fractured reflects the fractured nature of the founders,' _Harry thought to himself as an afterthought when he smiled.

"Yet a powerful dark sorcerer named Rimbor."

"Rimbor, that's a stupid name."

"Well sorry he didn't consult you, Stark," Harry responded dryly when he saw Iron Man who turned up. "Anyway, back to my story, where was I? Oh yes the powerful dark wizard unleashed an extremely powerful demon for power."

"What is you and being repetitive in your sentences?"

"Archer!"

Harry nodded before he continued his statement and turned around. "Rimbor opened the portal and was promised power. Of course, anyone with half of a brain cell could tell you that making a deal with a powerful demon of any type is asking to get your fingers get bitten off, figuratively speaking. So this powerful demon, he was brought into this world and the four founders joined forces, before putting him down."

"Does this little story have a way to defeat him?" Fury asked when he watched Harry.

Harry looked more defeated than he ever had before. "Much like all stories, those finer details have been lost to the annals of time. However, we have a far bigger problem than that. If the portal opens, there are other things that could come through that portal. Things that are more dangerous than winged monkeys and purple blasts of vaguely defined light."

"He is correct," Thor stated when he turned him around. "Midgard will be in peril if he is released into this realm."

Fury turned around; this situation kept getting worse and worse with each passing tidbit of news, in ways that he could not even imagine. The eagle eyed director of SHIELD wondered if they would even live to see the next day. He hoped for something to break, anything to break, that would give them the edge that they need to win the day.

"Does this demon have a name?"

Captain America asked this question and Thor paused before he nodded.

"Aye, they call him Surtur."

* * *

The Enchantress kept a careful eye on all the preparations but in the back of her mind, she waited for everything to get fouled up. That was the problem with relying on these people from Midgard, they were not the most competent of sort and her eyes continued to glow with malice when she turned her fists around several times.

Footsteps could be heard, they echoed in the back of her head and she kept her back turned, waiting for them to show up. Two of the Masters of Evil popped up. One of them was the worm known as Zemo, and it turned her stomach to think that she had to work with him. She was trying to harness a power that would bring this realm to her knees. The book told her what she must do and she could not have a misstep for if she opened the wrong portal, it would release an unmistakable horror.

The other individual was the Purple Man, who was a minor yet vital element to his plan.

"You wished to see me, Amora?" Zemo asked in his usual silky tone of voice, it dripped with distrust but at the same time, it was the tone that people were not going to trust at face value.

"I did Zemo," Amora responded when she turned around, facing him. "The portals being opened across town, I trust our timetable remains steady as usual."

"The Avengers are interfering as always, Enchantress," Zemo answered, his teeth gritted, he had to play around with this gambit a little bit longer. The power he sought would be in her hands and he could rip them out of them, before taking full control of whatever entity she was trying to summon.

"Of course they would interfere, they are the do-gooders," Amora responded dryly when she turned around carefully, eying Zemo carefully. "The problem is your inability to dispense with them."

"I have Rhino, Shocker, Living Laser, Grey Gargoyle, the Wrecking Crew, Whiplash, Black Mamba, the rest of the Masters of Evil, say the word, and they'll be there," Zemo responded when he bent his head a little bit and eyed Amora, a nasty expression twisting across his teeth. The woman did not say anything for a moment.

"I have a different tactic in mind," The Enchantress responded when she turned around.

Time ran short for her plans and the Avengers were thorns in her side, as always. Thor always spurned her but that was something that she dealt with. Her eyes blazed when she spun around and saw the reflection of herself from outside the window. The city was hers for the taking, and then the rest of the world and the realms, all she needed to do was to seize the moment.

"Do you mind sharing it with me?" Zemo asked in a silky voice when he eyed the woman before him. "I am your partner after all."

Enchantress corrected that notice the best she could. "You, Zemo, are a snake."

Zemo would be wounded if he cared anything about what this woman thought.

"Why did you call me here?" The Purple Man asked when he eyed the Enchantress. He had his own plans when he got busted out but he had been rounded up.

The Enchantress's mouth curled into a soft smile but it was not the type of smile that invited good times, no it was the type of smile that caused the skin of people to crawl. "Because I have a job for you, should you choose to accept it?"

"Anything, name your task," The Purple Man responded when he clutched his hands together eagerly and waited for the word.

"Deal with the Avengers," the Enchantress responded in a fluid voice when she eyed this man, carefully staring at him.

The Purple Man took this statement as what it was, an opportunity to prove his worth in the eyes of the criminal underworld. He was seen as a second string enemy at best from the heroes but he was going to prove his worth and prove without a shadow of a doubt that he deserved their attention. He would crush them under his feet like they were putty and mold them into something dangerous to be controlled by him like the puppets they should be.

"It will be done," Purple Man responded, his purple eyes glowing and he had the perfect plan as well.

He decided that a school would be the best venue to kick start his plan because the Purple Man loved children.

'_A puppet, nothing more,' _Amora thought to herself before she smiled inwardly. _'Amusing considering the fact his powers are to manipulate the puppet strings of other individuals around him but that is done."_

Speaking of puppets, Zemo stood before her and the Enchantress knew what his key function was, not to mention the fact that he would be completely twisted a little bit. His eyes flickered a little bit with malice but he did not say much of anything. He thought of her as a puppet that he could manipulate which was something she considered to be high comedy. The Enchantress being manipulated like a puppet on a string, well Zemo's strings would be among those that would be snipped.

Then there was the matter of the Avengers and Thor, who naturally spurned her. But she had a feeling that he was playing hard to get. In the back of her mind, the Enchantress felt that Thor would not be half as interesting if he fell at her feet like the rest of the men around her. That made him quite the catch and despite everything, the Enchantress enjoyed the challenge.

And then there was this sorcerer, this Harry Potter, she was fascinated about what he could bring to the table, although she was deciding to wait that one out. What was he exactly? Was he another god disguised on Midgard to observe the humans? Was he friend or foe? She wondered and he was a wildcard. He had the power to seal those portals, not once, not twice, but thrice, and now Amora had her undivided attention set upon him, shoving Thor to the side for a moment.

"Zemo prepare for the next phase, I must seek out someone," the Enchantress responded.

"Of course," Zemo stated in a malicious voice when he eyed her retreating form.

Soon his time would come, that much was for sure. He could hardly wait for everything to fall into place, she thought he was her pawn. Yet, he was not one that would be shuffled around on her chessboard for very long. Baron Zemo prepared for his own plans and he would release it, the power would be his.

* * *

Nick Fury continued to pace back and forth like a caged animal, he was playing a waiting game, and his arms folded a little bit over. He turned outside the window and looked down below, time ticked by with each passing instance. He carefully maneuvered himself to that next moment, whatever that was going to be.

He wondered for the first time in a very long time if he was in way over his head. Fury never believed that the situation was hopeless, but yet he had to consider the potential of this situation being hopeless. Given what Thor said and what Harry Potter said.

"So what now?"

Iron Man asked the question out loud that he was asking himself in the back of his mind. The Commander of SHIELD eyed the Armored Avenger and there was a long pause, where the silence was deafening. Neither wanted to say anything because neither wanted to admit how hopeless the situation they had been placed in one. Yet the situation was rather hopeless and Fury clutched his fist together, time rolled down, responding to this line of questioning only several ticks of the clock later.

"We'll figure out another plan," Fury responded when he turned around and addressed the group. "I've been in situations like this before and you have as well."

"You might have been in similar situations but nothing as big of a scope."

Harry spun around but he was struck about how much he should be talking about the scope of a situation. Given that he came from a community that barely acknowledged what was going outside of their own little bubble and that bubble collapsed on them, smothering innocent people in the process. Harry spun around and watched it.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Harry asked them, it was a rhetorical question but the sun shined, the birds chirped, and everything was completely peaceful. There was not a cloud in the sky, the sun shined.

The perfect day for the world to end and Harry edged closer to them, but at the same time, he edged further away. He wanted to control his surroundings, against both friend and foe, he hated losing control. After he gained his independence from that hidden community, he never wanted to be shoved back into that box ever again.

"No portals opening," Harry remarked in an off handed and casual voice.

"So that's a good thing?" Iron Man asked slowly.

Spider Woman showed up and she walked forward with a purpose.

"We've sighted the Purple Man, he's got hostages," Spider Woman answered to him.

Fury turned towards Harry. "Go ahead, say it?"

"Say what?" Harry asked in an innocent voice when he chewed on the apple he ate.

"Say that this is a distraction and they're being manipulated by the real culprit," Fury responded when he watched Harry and waited for the words to be said but they did not once leave the mouth of the young wizard.

"Why would I say anything when you already should know know what the game is?" Harry asked when he spun around, carefully digging his heals on the ground. "I think we all know what is happening here."

Harry smiled before he turned to them.

"Go and deal with the Purple Man, I've read his file, he's dangerous," Harry responded and this caused Fury to slowly turn around on the spot before his jaw hung open.

"How did you…."

"I'm not the only one who reads up on people, the number of times where I've been standing here invisible over the past year, watching you and watching the Avengers, and none of you ever knew,' Harry answered with a smile.

Iron Man smile before he carefully spoke. "Do you think…"

"No, I don't think it's creepy," Harry answered the question, giving the statement which inspired a fair amount of shudders. "I think that it's something that I needed to do to find out whether or not I could trust you. And if your security was good, I should not get past the front door."

Fury turned his head, a scowl formed on his face, despite everything; he conceded Potter had a point, even if he did not like the fact that he had that point. The Director of SHIELD clutched his fists.

Black Widow got up to her feet, but she slumped forward.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell you to sit this one out, Widow," Fury responded when he eyed one of his best agents. She opened her mouth but Fury cut her off. "Make no mistake about it, it's not any indictment about your capabilities. It's about how you took a bad shot and your vitals were off the chart."

"I'm fine, Fury," Natasha persisted stubbornly; she wanted to get back into battle. She was not the type of person who sat out.

Harry watched her with a smile; he remembered how many times he had been in a similar situation, protesting that he was fine. Even though he was anything but fine, but that came with the territory, that was what heroes did. The young wizard carefully turned around before he could get roped into the situation.

"Given the fact that you almost collapsed three times….and you're hanging onto that wall, I don't think that's a good idea, Widow."

Harry spun around when he took his eyes off of her, and he did not say much of anything. He watched when the rest of the group moved off.

"You coming?"

Harry's eyes spun around to see Captain America watch him but he hung his head down and shook his head.

"No, you take care of the Purple Man, I have much bigger things to take care of," Harry responded when he slid around. He took a few steps forward, considering what he had to do and he tried to focus on the magical energies around him.

There had to be a clearer pattern than he was not finding, the way the portals were opening, they made little sense. Iron Man's equipment stopped tracking the patterns and they could not be picked up again. Harry on the other hand, was trying to figure out where to pick the pattern back up with his magic, turning himself around, and plotting his next movement, but it was tough. There was no pattern that could be distinguished so he was back at square one.

Most people would give up after what happened but Harry was not most people, he took a fair amount of pride in himself and also in his abilities to get the job done, no matter how long it took. The young wizard stepped on the ground and listened carefully to what was going on around him.

"Is there a plan or are you just…."

Harry held up his hand and the Black Widow remained silent.

"I'm trying to locate any pulses of magic, if there is a powerful magical user in the area, it will leave traces," Harry responded when she stood next to him. "I'd sit down if I were you."

Natasha frowned; did she look like she was made of glass? Yet the light and feverish feeling that she felt indicated that she would be a slave to her own body. She slid away and left Harry with his own work, whatever he was doing. She did not really know what he was up to but she was certain that she needed to find out all too soon. The young wizard positioned himself carefully before he located a blip and it got closer and closer.

Without a word of where he was going, Harry disappeared. He would leave a trail which they could find him if he was not back within a certain time.

* * *

Amora the Enchantress was not a woman who was very patient, but she decided to make an exception in this case. She wanted to know what this young wizard was made of and she would wait, watch, and keep one eye on everything. She knew that her quest for power could potentially be derailed if she did not figure out how to best deal with this wizard. Her green outfit, golden hair, and blue eyes stared out with a combination of malice and calculation.

She tapped her foot on the ground impatiently when she watched for him, she left the trail of bread crumbs. The Purple Man would keep the Avengers distracted whilst she had her little meeting with Harry Potter. Standing next to a large man, with a bald head and a mustache, holding a large axe, he was named Skurge, he was her personal executioner.

"Stay steady Executioner, I believe that he will be arriving in due time," Amora stated with a smile crossing her face when she watched for him. She would soon greet him and the game would be on.

The Enchantress stood steady when he dropped to the ground. She watched him carefully.

"So, I was right, you've lead me here," Harry responded when he stared her down carefully. A troublesome woman meeting him in an abandoned warehouse was seldom a good thing, call it experience, but that's what Harry thought. "But why?"

"I mean you no harm," The Enchantress responded when Harry eyed her.

"Pull the other one, it has bells on it," Harry answered when he watched her.

"Don't believe me then," the Enchantress responded when she watched Harry and decided to dangle the next piece of information in front of his face. "I have information for you."

Harry waved her, he was equal parts intrigued and suspicious, but he could tell that this woman was crafty. That made him stand up straight and face her.

"Zemo is a fool that will doom us all, I need your help to make sure that doesn't happen," The Enchantress stated to Harry when she watched him. "I thought he would help but I feel that he is dangerous."

Harry eyed her but said nothing.

"I wish to help."

Now Harry was intrigued but also very suspicious, so he decided that he would play her game, for now.

"I have information that you may find useful."

**To Be Continued in Part Five. **


	5. Part V

**Part Five. **

Curiosity drove many people out there and was something that motivated them. Harry Potter was no exception, with the curiosity motivating him to a certain point. The dark haired wizard kept his eyes on the golden haired sorceresses that stood before him, a smile crossing his face but it was a knowing smile, the type of smile that he knew that he might be stepping into a track.

The Enchantress watched this young sorcerer carefully, he was a wild card in many ways, and could be the deciding factor from this plan succeeding or this plan failing. Therefore, she needed to proceed carefully as to not upset the balance of the plan. She watched him with a certain amount of trepidation on her face.

"I've found that Zemo will lead the world to ruin," The Enchantress told him in a careful voice and Harry inclined his head with a brief nod, inviting for her to go on. The young wizard waited for the other shoe to drop, he wanted to figure out what she was about to pull for him. "And I wish for your assistance to make sure that doesn't happen."

Harry remained silent which she took it as her cue to speak even more.

"I find that you have power that will help me with my goals and stop Zemo and his band of thugs from leading the world to its doom," Amora continued when the green eyes of Harry were locked upon her, not even speaking one world. "So an alliance between the two of us could bare much fruit if we work together."

Harry decided to speak slowly but carefully when he eyed the woman before him. "You want me, to help you?"

"Yes, that is the plan," Amora responded, glad to see that he was getting it. He was a wildcard and one that she needed on her side if her plans were to go forward.

Harry hummed carefully, there were many things about this potential alliance that might work but he was not foolish enough to think that someone like the Enchantress turned over a new leaf. In fact, there was something regarding today's events that felt rather fishy and Harry was determined to make sure to get the answers that he needed. The young wizard carefully kept his eyes focused on her and saw her Executioner growling in the background.

"And how am I convinced of your sincerity?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

The Enchantress felt annoyed and she watched him. "Is my word not good enough?"

"Given what I've found out about you, those who trust your word might find themselves in for some double dealing," Harry added with a smile crossing his face when he looked at her.

"Trust Thor to tell tales about me, his heart cannot deny me for much longer, it is but destiny that I and the thunderer get together," Amora answered but Harry watched her, with one eyebrow raised.

"And now I'm thinking that you talking me is an attempt to get Thor jealous," Harry responded when he watched her. "Although that wouldn't be the first time a woman pulled that trick with me."

The Enchantress gritted her teeth; this was not going the way she intended. She hoped to have him under her thumb but it was obvious that the spell she used, he was oddly resistant to its control. That fact did not deter her from getting him on her side, oh no, that would never deter her. It would make her even more determined to make this work.

A loud crash echoed and the Enchantress turned around.

"So we've got you right where we wanted you without your little Avenger friends."

The Wrecking Crew popped up, and Harry smiled at them, like they were some kind of vaguely interesting curiosity. The young wizard watched them and he placed his hands on his hips, before following them with his eyes.

"First of all they're not my friends, casual allies at best really," Harry stated when he shot a blinding flash of light to dizzy and dazzle them. The young wizard rushed around. "And secondly, I don't think you have me."

Wrecker growled when he clutched his fists.

"Stop playing hide and seek and face us," Wrecker growled when he tried to smash his fist towards what he thought was Harry but he smashed a wall.

"Tag you're it," Harry responded when he zapped Wrecker with a lethal burst of electricity. Being Asgardian, that only dropped him to his knees.

Thunderball rushed Harry, but the young wizard dropped down and then Thunderball was smashed in the head with a swinging hammer. There was a loud explosion when the Asgardian flew down to the ground, spiraling down with a huge thud.

"That was oddly satisfying," Thor commented when he cracked his knuckles.

Piledriver growled before he made his way towards Thor, but the God of Thunder swung his arm towards him. The member of the Wrecking Crew held his own for a few seconds, but a barrage of arrows shot him in the back. Those arrows were enhanced with charms in mid-air and stabbed Piledriver in the arm with them.

"Nice," Hawkeye stated with a nod towards Harry.

"I thought you were going for the Purple Man," Harry responded when he threw up an energy attack and knocked the Wrecking Crew back. Bones shattered from that attack.

"We figured you could use some assistance," Thor stated with a shrug when he went head to beat with Wrecker, who was nastier than ever before and the two men brawled.

"Nah, I'm good," Harry answered when he threw his hands into the air, before he blasted him into the air. The mage propelled himself into the air and drilled one of his enemies with a knee to the face, with Harry channeling magic through the knee strike.

They were down but the Executioner rushed forward and engaged the Avengers and Harry. Hawkeye aimed an arrow and shot the axe from his hand but the arrow stock into the handle of the axe and Harry pushed himself up, before slamming an elbow to the side of the head of his enemy. He was a hard one to put down.

The Enchantress knew this was a lost cause and she closed her eyes, before waving her hands.

"Leaving so soon?" Harry asked when he tried to hitch a ride but much to his chagrin, she escaped into the night.

"Sadly, we must give this one up as a lost cause," Thor responded but Harry closed his eyes.

He knew that he should not take this one so personally but yet he did and he knew that he was being kept distracted. By what purpose, Harry did not know now but the time to find out was at hand. He would track down everyone and bring them down. The wizard was ready to find whoever was there and he carefully edge forward, waiting for the action.

* * *

Zebekiah Killgrave, better known as the Purple Man, was someone who had been called a second string villain in the past. His powers were strong but they needed constant exposure, the pheromones that he released allowed him to control anyone, to an extent. People turned into his puppets that he dangled on a string. If he found a way to find tune his powers, he could put people so far under his control that they would not be able to lift a finger.

He had an entire school full of children of teachers and children under his control. All he had to do was say the word and he could have the group of children beat their teacher senseless, and the teacher only could sit back and take it, like a good little extension of his will.

"That's it my children, edge yourselves closer, protect me from those monsters, those Avengers," the Purple Man stated in a low voice, sleaze dripping off of it when he placed his hand on the shoulder of one of the boys, a creepy expression crossing his face. The smile would bring shivers down the spine of the most hardened of men or women.

Iron Man, Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, and Black Widow turned up and the Purple Man's face contorted into a creepier grin yet. The game was afoot but he had the children and he could do anything that he wanted to them. All these children go do was squirm, they were his, they would always be his.

"Okay, Killgrave, the game's up!" Iron Man yelled when he aimed his blasts at him.

"Hardly," The Purple Man stated when he looked at Ms. Marvel and Black Widow with a leering expression on his face.

"And I suddenly want to gouge his eyes out," Ms. Marvel stated when she felt like she needed a shower and not the good kind, with the way the Purple Man was looking at her.

"You're in good company," Black Widow stated with her eyes flickering and her mouth contorting in a thinly veiled about of disgust.

"Make sure to get him without harming the children," Iron Man responded when he watched them.

"Harm the children, eh?" Purple Man asked with his eyes glowing.

"And something tells me that you just gave him an idea," Ms. Marvel responded.

"Children, protect me, take down Iron Man, that's it!"

Children throwing various objects at a person, well it did not hurt, but it was completely demeaning. The books, chairs, and rulers bouncing off of Iron Man's armor inconvenienced him.

The wall behind him opened before the Hulk burst it, growling.

"Ah yes, I had assumed the brute would come here," The Purple Man responded when he moved oddly nimble, grabbing one of the children and holding him up as a shield. Even the Hulk was not about to endanger a child, pulling his punch.

"Coward," Hulk growled through his teeth but the child was thrown at Hulk. This allowed the Purple Man to escape through the door and up the stairs.

"After him!" Iron Man yelled and the Avengers chased the Purple Man up the stairs. "Make sure to take him out quickly, if he affects any of us…."

"We all read his file," Ms. Marvel responded when she rolled her eyes slightly, but quickened the pace, before she flew up the stairs. The group stuck together, because if he divided them, it would be a lot easier for him to put them under his control. "I think he's around that corner."

"Look," Black Panther responded when he pointed and look they did.

There was a child dangling over the ledge, about ready to jump down. The Purple Man held his hand, having him like a puppet on a string. He turned around and faced the Avengers, a smile crossing his face, a creepy glint flicking through his eyes.

"My little puppet is about to drop down to his doom, I would suggest you take a step back," the Purple Man responded in a crisp and cruel voice when he watched them. "Try me Avengers, tempt me, and they will be splatter marks on the side walk."

Captain America crept up the side of the building, all the Avengers had to do was keep the Purple Man distracted while Captain America did his thing. Black Widow smiled when she looked at the villain.

"I don't think that you'll do something like that," Natasha responded when she folded her arms and watched him carefully.

The Purple Man felt annoyance swell into his being when he was contradicted, he felt the child under his thrall. Controlling the emotions of children gave him a thrill, they were so ripe, so innocent, he could have his way with them with just a little pull. It caused him a thrill that many could not experience.

"Do you not see it?" the Purple Man stated in a creepy voice, when he turned around to slowly stroke the neck of the child that was on the ledge. Said child was scared out of his mind, and he trembled and the Purple Man inhaled in the air. "He is mine."

"I see that you're completely nuts," Iron Man responded, carefully aiming his arm.

"Not one step or we'll have some sad parents," the Purple Man responded with a malicious expression dancing in his eyes. "Don't you dare, because I will do it."

"That's enough Killgrave," Iron Man responded, before he eyed Captain America.

Captain America swooped in, before he grabbed the child out of the grip of Killgrave and knocked him back with a swing with his shield. Killgrave staggered back a few inches and Iron Man dove at the Purple Man, before sending him flying up and back down to the ground with a huge crash.

* * *

Sometime later, Harry paused before he spun around and tapped his foot on the ground.

"So are we going anywhere or are we just sight seeing?" Hawkeye wondered but the expression of Harry became rather calm and crisp. The archer took that as a cue to be silent.

Harry stood on the edge of everything, the Enchantress left a trail of bread crumbs for him to follow but why? Why was the question that Harry hoped to answer that question in due time, now he edged himself closer to the edge of where he was going. The wizard closed his eyes when he continued to walk forward, crossing his arms and holding his head up.

"There's something there," Harry whispered when he heard the swirling from above and that put him on edge.

What was it? That was the question that Harry hoped to answer in due time but the swirling allowed him to remain on his feet, standing up straight and turning around a little bit. He cupped his hand toa n ear and heard it. There was no mistake about what was about to come through that portal, without a shadow of a doubt it was about to open to release something dangerous out into the open. Harry kept himself on the edge, watching it and carefully eying the inside of the portal.

He let out the breath that he was keeping in.

"What madness has this portal spawned this time?" Thor asked when he edged himself forward and readied himself for a fight.

Sure enough, Harry was about ready to get his wish, his hands on his hips when the young wizard spun around and carefully closing his eyes. The portal was watched and he waited for it to rattle open. Whatever was going to come through, well to say it was going to be bad news might be understating certain matters completely.

"And now, the portal is going to open to reveal….."

Harry waited, it was a matter of time and he prepared to find the focus to close the portal and edged forward. His skin shivered when goose bumps appeared on his arm. The air was cold, almost like it felt when Dementors popped up. He sure as hell hoped that was not something that they had to deal with. He could fight them but it was not something that he preferred doing if he had the choice against doing so. The wizard edged himself closer to the portal and stood on his feet, waiting for the next action.

They popped through the portal dozens of them, with glowing white eyes and shapeless black bodies that swirled around. The shadow creatures continued to edge their way from the portal, moving closer towards Harry and he eyed them, gritting his teeth. This could be tricky and he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"These creatures mean they are getting closer to his realm," Thor breathed as he watched them fly out.

"Time is of the essence," Harry stated underneath his breath when he closed his eyes.

"Isn't it always?"

That statement from Hawkeye was one that Harry only barely acknowledged, he really had to endeavor to find a way to close that portal and soon, the clock ticked down. One tick at a time, two ticks at a time, it was really rolling down, and he saw the black creatures flying forward. They did not have any shape but the few glimpses that Harry caught from them, they were hideous enough to give him enough worry to be disturbed. The wizard edged himself around, turning his head, and a frown crossed his face.

Harry waited for the end to happen, even if hands were placed on his hips and he focused a glowing blue light towards the portal. The creatures gave a loud screaming sound when he forced the essence of his power into the portal, through it.

Pop, pop, pop, pop.

That echoed throughout the city and Harry could have cursed, more portals were opening, and were getting closer and closer to tapping into the main source. He could not shut them down quickly enough, although he had to try. All of the power plowed through his body when more creatures went through the Portal.

"Avengers, back up would be nice," Hawkeye grunted when he fired arrow after arrow at the large stone looking creatures that stampeded out of the portal.

"Yeah, working on it, but we're kind of busy, Spider Woman can move in but that's all we can spare," Iron Man grunted when there was a loud explosion echoing throughout the communication link, that rang through Hawkeye's ears.

He wondered that they dealing with, surely the Purple Man couldn't be that dangerous, but now he had to focus. Hawkeye aimed his arrows and began to fire rapid blows, sending them flying through the air and drilling them with explosive shots. The young archer pushed himself closer and closer to the battle, feeling the sweat roll down his brow. Yet that was something he lived for and he closed his eyes, breathing in heavily.

"Stay steady," Thor warned him when he pushed himself into the battle.

Harry saw Spider Woman run past him, her dark hair hanging over her face, when she blew it out of the way.

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder," she remarked and Harry turned towards her.

"Welcome to the story of my life," Harry responded but he kept his attacks flowing towards the portal, trying to knock his enemies back, he was not going to drop down that easily. He found another portal and summoning the power to himself, the portal sealed shut. His knees rattled, but he remained on his feet, sweat rolling down his brow.

He was getting closer to the edge and to track where the main nexus point of the portal was, all Harry needed to do was lock onto the portal and manage to seal it somehow, someway. Spider Woman, Hawkeye, and Thor covered him the best they could, but they would be outmatched by the monsters, that Harry did his best to lure back into the portal or better yet, lure into taking each other out.

"They keep multiplying," Hawkeye stated with widened eyes and Thor threw his shoulders down and sighed.

"That's the idea, I believe," Thor responded when he turned his head around and held his hammer high into the air, before smashing it down onto the ground to cause an electrical charge to burst through the creatures. That shocked them but they were not getting any closer to shutting this entire operation down.

* * *

"I have you now, Stark," The Purple Man stated when he licked his lips and sure enough, Iron Man fell straight into his trap. The Purple Man had him by the throat and all he needed to do was squeeze and he would have Iron Man at hand. "Did you think that you could defeat me that easily? When I have you, you won't be able to even blink without my permission."

Tony Stark struggled but he found that fact to be grisly true, he shook underneath the thrall of the Purple Man. His heart beat and his eye twitched, when he tried to turn around.

"Fight it Tony," Captain America stated but he knew that the Purple Man held all of the cards.

"And with Iron Man on my side, there's nothing that I can't do," the Purple Man stated in a pompous tone of voice.

"Want to make a bet," Hulk growled when he clutched his fist but Black Widow shook his head.

"We got to get Iron Man out from underneath his thumb first," Black Widow responded but a fretful expression danced in her eyes. This was something that was easier said than done to be honest. She watched the Purple Man dangle his puppet of iron, making him dance.

Thankfully or perhaps not, a portal opened itself, causing the Purple Man to stagger and Iron Man to try and lift the control. Despite this fact ,his eyes remained shut and the Purple Man held him underneath his thumb. Carefully exerting a certain amount of control but the Shadow Creatures moved around his head, causing his control to be broken. His heart sped up when he staggered a little bit and the Purple Man threw his head back before he gave a loud and agitated yell.

"This wasn't part of the agreement."

Ms. Marvel jumped up and knocked the Purple Man for a loop, hoping that her physical attack would bring Iron Man out of his trance.

"I guess you don't give us back up, but we bring the fight to you," Hawkeye responded when the shadow creatures swirled around the heads of the Avengers.

"Are you alright?" Captain America asked in his usual calm and collected voice when he bent down next to Iron Man and the Armored Avenger shook his head.

"Yes, fine, but I won't be for long," Iron Man responded for long when he saw the claws of the black shadow creatures but Thor swooped in and knocked him out.

Black Panther aimed his attacks with a fluid motion and without a word, carefully edging around them. He moved with swift fluid motions, keeping himself a step ahead of his adversaries and he swung his blades in the air, causing the vibramium to disrupt the shadow creatures carefully. There was a rattling sensation when Thor joined him for the attack and a loud crack could be heard when the hammer brought itself down on them.

"So I guess you joined the battle after all," Harry responded to Black Widow and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Fury can only suggest I stay out, besides I feel better," Natasha answered, sure she felt a bit flushed but she chalked that off to some degree of adrenaline. Harry propped her up, so she could deliver a huge kick knocking one of the stone creatures into dust. "How many are there?"

Harry offered a stoic expression before he spit out one word. "Infinite."

Natasha grimaced before closing her eyes. "Rarely good."

"Too true," Harry agreed when he managed to seal another portal with a crack but in their confusion, they forgot about the Purple Man.

Harry felt the all too familiar light headed sensation that came with attempted possession. The creepy and oddly soothing voice of the Purple Man filled the back of his mind; he tried to get his hooks into the mind and heart of Harry Potter. He felt the pull around his mind, the pull that would have made other succumb to the voice whispering in the back of his head. His eyes closed, it was almost too easy to relax.

Of course, the Purple Man had not really counted on one thing and that was that Harry's strength and will power was amazing. He had resisted the Imperius Curse from one of the most powerful dark wizards in a hundred years. He resisted countless bits of magic from everyone around him and the young wizard eyed his would be possessor, more annoyed than anything else by the fact that he was nearly placed underneath the thrall of another person. His hands clutched together when they shook a little bit and his arms rocked from one side to the other.

Almost there, the Purple Man thought, almost to the edge, he had it and he had the other Avengers, with Captain America, Hulk, and Black Widow being the toughest to get under his control, but this young sorcerer, he was the hardest.

He was in the mind of Harry Potter but Killgrave felt his heart beat fast, when he realized what that entailed. He had the inside track to one of the most disturbed and messed up minds in the entire universe. The young wizard carefully edged the man over the ledge, and he almost dangled a little bit.

His heart gripped in a tight grip and the blood oozed from underneath his shirt, before the spell of the Avengers snapped free.

By trying to possess Harry Potter, Zebekiah Killgrave, the Purple Man, decided to do what one might consider to overindulge on his own actions with trying to possess someone. His eyes bulged out of the side of his breath and his breathing got more labored when the blood poured down his mouth. He had a brain aneurysm, a heart attack, and a stroke all simultaneously, paying the price for trying to take Harry Potter down. His eyeballs popped out of his skull as he staggered.

His eyes bulged out the side of his head when he staggered a little bit to the side, knees buckling, slamming together, before he edged to the side, almost falling to a sickening demise. His fingers slipped and his grip weakened, and then there was a huge crash.

Iron Man instinctively dove down but when Killgrave fell, he fell fast. The back of his head smashed like an eggshell against the pavement below, blood spraying out of it. Killgrave coughed rather hard before he knew no more, his eyeballs rolling onto the pavement in a disturbing and depraved sight.

"So…."

"No we have bigger problems," Thor stated when he pointed afar and Harry closed his eyes, feeling the throbbing in the back of his head. He had to shut the portals down, even if it killed him and that was rather likely at this point. His heart beat against the side of his chest when he swayed.

* * *

The Enchantress despised when plans that were pieced together a long time ago did not go as planned but the woman planned for the worst to happen. She was someone who always had a contingency or two in place and now her green eyes flickered with the malice that one would expect from someone like her when she peered up. A twisted smile flickered over her face when she watched, soon the right portal would be opened.

She gave him credit, he refused to give up but the Enchantress knew that there was magic at work that she could only scarcely control. Yet, she was completely in control and the person who told her differently would be declared to be a fool. The mystical energies swirled around her hand and the crackling could be heard above her head.

The blonde crossed her arms with a smile over her face, this was a moment where she had everything under her finger. The Sorceress was a few moments from unleashing the power which would flow through her and cause her to swell with the pure personification of energy. The blonde's eyes screwed shut when her fingers twitched and she rocked back and forth, the ground rumbling underneath her.

"Soon, soon," the low voice growled when the Enchantress felt a buzzing in her head.

Something went wrong.

"What are you?" Enchantress managed, she was not in control of the magic anymore.

"You are no longer in control of this scheme, it is mine to control," the voice growled and the Enchantress felt fear flood through her, when her free will was drained from her.

"No, I'm no one's puppet," the Enchantress breathed, her eyes glowing when she tried to fight it and she felt her skin blister. There should not be a heat so intense that made her skin blister but there it was.

Her loud screams echoed from the pain and it caught the attention of the Avengers. Captain America looked up.

"It's the Enchantress!" Captain America stated which caused Iron Man and Ms. Marvel to turn towards him.

"Yeah, we noticed that," Hawkeye responded dryly before he tried to shoot her out of the sky but an energy field appeared around her.

"She has dabbled in magics beyond her comprehension," Thor stated but the problem is that the Prince of Thunder could barely comprehend it as well.

"Of course she did," Harry responded when he sighed and bit back the many choice words that he had. Why couldn't people leave magic well enough alone? It was not a toy to be used just because someone got bored and decided to take over the world. It was a dangerous weapon and should be treated like a loaded gun. If it was played with, it could kill someone, likely yourself.

"Take him out now," the voice growled in the ear of the Enchantress.

"Um, incoming," Iron Man responded when the bright light of magic shot towards them.

Harry created a shield around them that blocked the magic and propelled it backwards, but that did not stop everything completely. The wizard circled around, careful not to drop to his knees and he shook his head, offering a brief cough, before fixing his stance a little bit and looking up into the sky, hoping that he could block the next one.

Two spells shot off each other and connected in mid-air, creating a spectacular light shot. Harry's magic pushed back against Amora's, even though her brain was no longer in the driver's seat of her body.

"Amora, do not succumb to his pull!" Thor yelled when he tried to aim his hammer up.

"Destroy me, before he exits the portal!" Amora shrieked through the possession, she was the key, he had been preparing for her months.

Thor paused but Harry mouthed something and a green light left his hand. It was a long shot but the energy around her blocked the attack.

"Your little human death curse cannot to defeat something like me," the voice thundered and the Enchantress raised a hand, before she fired an attack from her hand and it burned through the air at a ballistic fury towards Harry.

A second spell fired from Harry's hand.

It was said that when two highly powerful spells met at each other, going at the same speed, it could have highly unpredictable results.

Which was what explained what happened next!

The entire world flashed into a bright light around them.

**To Be Continued in the Next Chapter. **


	6. Part VI

**Part VI.**

A swirling vortex surrounded around the Avengers when they stood below the streets of New York, eyes widened, mouth agape, and hearts beating when they watched everything happening. There was a loud thunderous round of laughter that echoed and caused them to stand tense and on edge. Iron Man's eyes widened when he tried to calibrate the settings for his suit but there was something that prevented him from shifting even a little bit.

He fell over like a big huge lump when he fell down onto the ground.

"Iron Man!" Captain America yelled when he tapped on the armor.

"Can't move!" Stark managed, the Iron Man armor was dead weight.

Ms. Marvel shook her head before closing her eyes, before crossing a pair of arms and looking into the sky with a swirling vortex that manifested in the air. There was a huge problem as Thor disappeared, as did the Black Widow, the Enchantress, and Harry Potter. The blonde haired super heroine looked up, her hands shaking before she peered into the sky and saw the thunderous figure, fire surrounding them all.

This was looking to be a potentially problematic situation.

"What's going on?" Spider Woman asked, she was confused and lost with what was happening but no one is going to explain the situation.

That was because everyone was at a loss to explain the situation themselves and the fact that Iron Man went down onto the ground. His legs twitched a little bit when he tried to get back to his feet but he was like a turtle turned over onto his back. His heart would fail if he could not get back up power back to the armor soon.

"We need to find the source and shut it down," Captain America stated, taking the leadership of the team as he always would.

"Yeah good luck with that, given that our expert just faded into time and space, like the person who caused this," Hawkeye stated, wondering how this situation could get much worse, but he was sure that he would find out all too soon. He bit down on his lip, before aiming an arrow through the portal but it burned into cinders not even touching their adversary. "And that's not good."

"You make an understatement," Ms. Marvel responded before several flaming demon creatures flew through the portal, causing the populace to scream and run around in a panic.

There was a moment of a pause before Captain America said two certain words.

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

The Avengers did in fact Assemble, with Captain America trying to maneuver his squad around the attacks. The flaming attacks bounced off of his shield and the Spirit of America pushed it back with all of the strength that one could expect for him. His heart beat heavier, before he twisted on his heel and held up the shield, before flipping into the air, and smashing the shield down onto the incoming attacker, knocking him down and out.

Black Panther dove, getting a boost from the Hulk, before holding the Vibranium knives and slashing them at anything that moved, along with some things that did no. The purple flare blasted through the air and he ripped through them, before knocking them backwards. There was a ripping sound when the Panther dropped down, panting heavily.

"I've got it!" Spider Woman stated but something knocked her back, to make sure she did not in fact have it.

Iron Man kicked his hands and feet, trying to get back to his feet, and trying to get on backup power because it was harder then he thought to get up to his feet. This was not good, this was not good at all and Iron Man tried to shift his limbs, before trying to get him up to a standing position.

"You mortals amuse me."

The thunderous voice of Surtur could be heard, when the sky turned red around them. The magical attack blasting each other broke all of reality and also caused an electro-magnetic flare that shut down all electronics within range. This caused a mass panic for everyone who was unable to use their electronics. In the 21st century, that was worse to these people than any kind of sickness or plight of health that they could suffer. There was a huge explosion that echoed throughout the city.

"Come out here and fight me like a man," Hulk grunted, cracking his knuckles.

"I think not Ogre, you are nothing compared to my mind and I will bring a new age of burning and suffering on the nine realms starting with Midgard. And with the Thunder God and this sorcerer gone, you cannot hope to match my power."

"Perhaps not, but we won't give up," Captain America responded with the determination that could infect people and inspire them to greater heights. The Spirit of America smiled when he bent himself at the knees, holding the shield firmly, before throwing it up into the air, before knocking the demons back. There was a huge crack and he caught it, holding the shield into his hand.

"Then you will die a fool as you have lived." Surtur responded in a crisp and nasty voice when his eyes glowed and the ground rattled underneath him, when more fire shot through the air.

The Avengers exchanged an expression of discontent, it was obvious now that no matter what, they were in for a fight and that fight was going to a battle that they would remember for a long time. Providing they lived long enough to live to fight another day but tensions ran extremely high, dismay was being felt by all of them as they fought an uphill battle.

Captain America stood steady, he been in wars before and many battles so he turned to the team. "Stick together and fight as one, remember no matter what we are Avengers."

"Yeah, that's what we're going to say on our obituaries and our tombstones," Hawkeye responded aiming his arrow and firing them at a rapid barrage, hoping that at least one of them found their way through and did some damage.

Nothing did, thus they were back at square one.

"He's not completely tethered to this realm," Black Panther stated in a calm and soothing voice when he looked up. "We must find a way to drive him back before he completely enters or…."

"Earth burns," Ms. Marvel stated, letting out a light whistle and feeling the knot cross her stomach. There was no question about it; things could get worse, because they surely were not getting all that much better. Yet, they had to fight as one, for they were the Avengers and that was what they did.

They never found themselves in a situation that was more frustrating than this one.

* * *

Limbo was not a pleasant place to be, especially with what laid on the other side. The blurred vision of Natasha Romanov struggled into place when the spy clutched the side of her head. She had been standing next to Harry when the entire world went bright. Now she stood there, at a loss to figure out what was happening.

Her heart skipped a tiny beat when the red haired woman realized that thankfully she was not alone. The woman crossed her arms and saw Thor was there.

"Thor, are you alright?' Natasha asked when she watched the Prince of Thunder pull himself up. Shakily and Natasha, despite her agility and strength, could not get Thor to his feet.

"Aye, but I have many better days," Thor answered when he heard the whirling around their heads. This caused a gasp to escape from the lips of the God of Thunder, before his eyes scoped out the situation, shaking a little bit but despite that shaking, he held himself up steady. "And I do not wish to mince words but this is a situation that we could do without."

Natasha wondered what he was talking about but as it turned out, Thor was only too happy to clarify for her.

"When the Enchantress tried to attack the young wizard, he fired back," Thor explained when he kept his eyes unblinking. It would be unwise to let one's guard down, even for a second. If the Prince of Thunder faltered a tiny bit, then much would be lost. "Whilst I am uncertain about the mechanics of the matter, one thing that I am certain about is the fact that they blasted us into this realm."

Natasha looked around and heard the echoing laughter. That did not put her at ease, far from it.

"So what do we got to do know?"

"This is the fault of you Avengers meddling in this," the Enchantress stated when she brushed her hands off and peered up at the group with narrowed eyes.

Natasha was not too happy with this accusation was being thrown out. "My fault, how is it…."

"It is your fault for if you had not intervened, I would have been able to stop him from coming out of the portal," Amora responded, daring them with her gaze to contradict any word she said. She stubbornly persisted in saying that this was the fault of them. "And where is your wizard?"

Natasha breathed before she turned her head around and looked. That was actually a pretty good question and one that she wanted to answer in due time. Yet Harry, wherever he was, did not manifest himself.

"We're running out of time and space," Natasha answered, posing herself for a fight and with that statement, Thor offered a crisp nod, clutching his hammer firmly before he clued her eye.

"Aye, this Shadow Realm is one of treachery but if we are there, that means that Surtur has not broken free of his bindings completely," Thor responded with a crisp tone and bold inflection, before he threw his head back. "And that means there is still a chance, albeit a minor one for us to escape before we are able to leave this place."

"Then let us increase that chance by sticking together," Natasha responded, cracking her knuckles.

"Work together, with the Avengers," Enchantress stated, annoyed more so than anything that she had been bamboozled. "You must be foolish to ever think that I would work together with the likes of you."

Natasha wished to strangle this woman but knew that despite her haughty attitude, the redhead needed her help and Thor realized that, even the Prince of Thunder narrowed his eyes at her. Amora remained calm and crisp, before the trio walked down.

"I'd advise you not to make any eye contact with anyone around here," Amora responded with a crisp gaze when she peered up into the sky. The woman carefully watched them and folded her arms, before taking a few steps and eying them with a careful expression in his eyes.

There was footsteps that could be heard with the entire group tensed up, waiting for the other shoe to drop, whatever it might be. They edged forward.

"Miss me?"

Harry stood at the edge of the clearing, with the swirling vortex of flames moving around them. Natasha felt a mixture of relief and agitation when she watched Harry standing there before them. The redhead woman stood on her heels and her eyes widened when she watched Harry.

"There you are I didn't think….I thought…."

Natasha took a moment to adjust herself. "For a second I thought it was…."

"A trick?" Harry offered in a crisp voice and she nodded carefully. "I wouldn't blame you if you thought something like that. It does seem like something that would happen, doesn't it?"

Thor offered a short nod before he stated the next part of his statement. "Quite, it could be very obvious that deception is the rule in this realm. We must remain vigilante."

"And how do you know that he's not a trick to begin with ?" Amora asked to Natasha and Thor when she eyed Harry.

"And how do I know that any of you are who you say you are?" Harry responded when he watched them. "I guess we're going to have to….we're going to have to trust each other."

"Obviously, for the moment," Thor responded and he kept a close eye on Amora when he said this and the Enchantress did not even miss a beat. She was secretly wounded at the Prince of Thunder's lack of trust but would not reveal that to be the case. To show weakness was not something that she was fond of.

"So we soldier on?" Natasha asked when holding out the gun. Not that it would do her much if any good in here, she just felt more secure with it.

"We got to do our very best and no one will think the worst of us," Thor commented but the Enchantress snorted.

"Fitting words to put upon your tombstone Thunder God."

"Focus," Harry responded when he watched outwords and heard the flapping of the wings. "The two of you can flirt later, right now we have business at hand. Now stick together, unless you want to die."

"Well, you're direct," Natasha commented lightly but there was no response so it was onward.

* * *

Nick Fury paced like a cage animal; to say this situation had taken a turn for the worse would be understating the manner. The one eyed director of SHIELD clutched his fists and stamped on the ground, gritting his teeth furiously. He was about ready to blow a gasket, which would not be good for anyone involved. The careful plotting was becoming unraveled. Not even a siren echoed around them for one simple reason that Fury got entirely.

There was no power whatsoever on the SHIELD facility and that meant that Fury was out of control. He hated when he was out of control and he was going to take any steps that he could to correct that notion.

"The power couldn't have gone too far off," Fury growled when he stepped forward a little bit and peered through his one eye out the door. "Scramble around, see if you can get any reserve back on."

His blood pressure was dangerously close to spiking but yet Fury held himself back a little bit. The Eagle Eyed Director of SHIELD focused on the task at hand but the cause of the damage would be accessed. His eye bugged out, when it went bloodshot and teeth gritted to the point where his expression looked murderous.

The moral of the story was never to fuck with Nick Fury, especially when he was in this state of mind. He paced back and forth like a caged animal, if he had both eyes, they would be widened. But the one eye would sufficient.

"I want the power back on yesterday!"

Fury offered a statement when he gritted down and clutched a pair of fists. The flashes of light outside of the Hellicarrier caused it to be rocked and the Director of SHIELD turned around, a glare of discontent flickering through his eye.

"Agent Hill…."

"There were several impacts on the side of the Hellicarrier, Commander Fury, sir."

Fury could have sworn, this day could not get any worse, actually he refused to admit that fact. For if he assumed that the day would not get any worse, there was a potential instance where the day would get worse. The loud impact of a flying option smacking against the side of the flying fortress made Fury step up and take a greater notice. He demanded answers and would get them, one way or another.

"See if we can get a visual," Fury responded, but there was another explosion that caused the Hellicarrier to dent. He smelled smoke and fire, something that there was no need to have any kind of high tech equipment to determine. He flushed completely and felt the agitation flood in the back of his mind, before arming himself. "And get as many people to manually defend the ship. If the core gets disrupted, it could take out half the city."

'_Which is likely,' _Fury thought, while Nick Fury rarely sweated, he understood when he was outmatched and out gammed. The one eyed Director of SHIELD soldiered forward, taking each stride to see if he could spare enough to keep an eye out. _'Fucking wonderful.'_

There was another flash and Fury rubbed his one eye, feeling the flare irritate it. The entire city was hell on Earth and he turned to three of his agents.

"Find a way down, see what you can find out on the ground, and report back to me at once," Fury ordered and the SHIELD agents nodded, before they scrambled towards the nearest exit. The group nearly tripped over each other, trying to remain steady and not lose any sense of themselves. "How is the core."

"Stable, sir."

"Make sure it stays that way," Fury answered, not even blinking but there was another explosion that caused him to stand up straight. A hissing sound prompted the Director of SHIELD to bolt towards the sound of it. Listening carefully, Fury watched, before making his way off to the side, bending at the knee. "And now…."

"Direct impact and I don't know, something got blown into the side."

Fury kept his cool despite it being very hard to do so. "Well find out what it is and put a stop to it."

The Director of SHIELD eyed the situation, carefully determining what the biggest problem was and where the hissing was coming from. That hissing drove him to the brink of madness and it could be any number of problems that presented themselves. Ranging from the major catastrophes or from minor annoyances, that was a huge combination of things that made Fury lose his cool. He would find out and he would find out before it was too late. Edging forward, an ear perked up at the sound before one of the agents rushed forward and felt a steady heart beat rise from within him. Fury awaited the answer but had a feeling that he would not like it.

So without any further pause, Fury's eye snapped towards the SHIELD agent who responded carefully and crisply.

"It's….it's….I can't believe it."

"Well spit it out and I'll be the judge of that," Fury answered in a cold and crisp voice when he watched the SHIELD agent, his hand twitch. "Let's go, I don't have all day, get on with out."

The agent responded in a crisp and concise manner but quite frankly it was only spit out as such because he did not truly believe it. Still, without any further pause, the SHIELD agent stated it as only he could.

"Sir, there's snakes…on the Hellicarrier."

Fury remained eerily calm.

"That would explain the hissing," Fury responded to that statement , when he saw them. It was a shame that he did not have anyone that could handle snakes on his team.

"What should we do sir?"

Fury slapped a palm to his fist. "What do you think?"

The agents nodded carefully before edging off to the side and trying to deal with the snake crisis, at least the best they could. Fury needed a refresher or a vacation but with no power in the city, he doubted that would come any time soon.

* * *

For many people they would have given up after a few defeats but Baron Zemo was not going to be one who gave up that easily.

"The Enchantress might have gotten destroyed, but HYDRA is mightier than her," Zemo answered, but this inflection seemed to be less bold when one considered one fact. HYDRA was a fraction of their previous size and also they had suffered a severe beating. Yet, Zemo would not be denied. "We will seize this power for our own and we will win the day."

The HYDRA goons cheered loudly when they cracked their knuckles, all of them looking excited or at least trying not to look defeated. While Zemo was very much more forgiving than the Red Skull, his patience was not something that should be tried. They kept their eyes on the leader of HYDRA, before they waited for him to say his next move. They walked everything around them, before he picked up the scanner and began to calibrate it.

Zemo waited, he sensed the energy getting closer, or rather his scanner picked up onto it. It got closer and closer to accomplishing much and now he would win the day. All would rue the day that they ever stepped in the way of him.

"I understand you desire the power that I hold but you will never be able to fathom it."

This deep baritone rattled throughout the ears of the HYDRA agents and many stood rigid, when the fire shot around outside. Zemo stood rigid but then again, he could feel the power and the presence around him. Something he respected for that was what the current leader of this group respected. Power would be his and it would be the day for him to win.

"Yes, you desire what I hold and it will be mine," Zemo answered when prepared to activate the final stone to entrap the power. It was like the Enchantress planned, only it would be the leader of HYDRA that would hold the power for himself. "Beware my power and behold it."

"You know nothing about power, you miserable little snake."

"Bah, I'll show you," Zemo answered as he used his knowledge of the occult to focus the stone towards his adversary. "Yes, feel it, feel it, bend to my will. Oh yes I can feel it."

Zemo's eyes flooded over with the power, when his heart beat heavier when he saw the power flood into him. HYDRA stepped off to the side, feeling a bit terrified at how exciting that their leader was getting because of the power. He started to grunt and shake, making orgasmic sounds of the power, before grunting loudly to throw his head back in a roaring "yes" that echoed throughout everything around him.

"Why stop now when I can have all of the power, I must have it, I must have it all?"

Zemo felt the temptation wash over him, felt the power flow through every fiber of his body and shook all over. A thump brought him out of his lust for power but only for a moment. Another thump indicated that he had company and Captain America burst through the doors. In one fluid motion, the Original Avenger carefully slid into the picture and eyes widened when he heard the power flowing in between them. While he had no idea of the occult, Captain America knew enough about the atmosphere to understand that something was going down.

Spider Woman, Black Panther, and Hawkeye were watching Iron Man, lugging him back to Stark Industries to see if they could find a work around without the power. That left Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and the Hulk to stand up against the Avengers.

"Are you mad Zemo?" Captain America asked but the laughter echoed around them.

The Hulk moved forward to smash but the HYDRA agents charged in front of the rampaging beast. That did not end favorably for them, with Hulk smashing them down to the ground. They were knocked back with a loud crack, crack, and a louder crunch when they flew off to the ground. Bones staggered when Hulk tried to grab Zemo.

"You thought you could control me, well think again," Surtur's voice echoed, using Zemo as a puppet to knock Hulk back. The assault was actually felt by the Incredible Hulk and he stagger, grunting. "You Avengers are amusement, toys, you are nothing…."

Ms. Marvel flew into her enemy at super strength, knocking him backwards. The stone flew from his hand and landed with a clatter, which Hulk tried to stomp on. The key word was try, when the stone heated up underneath his foot and launched the green giant into the air, before he flew backwards. A splitting headache rumbled and Zemo screamed when his hand burned.

"Fire upon him, I must have him!" Zemo yelled, feeling the power slipping away and fearing that something bad was going to happen. The skin on his forearm burned when he twisted around on the ground and felt rocked.

"Not now, Zemo!" Captain America responded when he rushed forward and struck Zemo with a knee to the head. A loud crash rumbled on the ground and the First Avenger pinned his enemy down. Zemo was skilled but the strength of Captain America and his skill could not be denied. "You aren't having this power or this world ever again…"

A loud rumble echoed and more demons shot through the portal, offering burning fury. Ms. Marvel whistled lowly, seeing them pop out before them.

"That's….that's not good," Ms. Marvel breathed, eyes widening when she watched the glass rumble on the ground and everything pop back to life. Actually she might have made an understatement once again.

The Hulk got up and the jade giant's jaws clasped shut into a grimace.

The sinister laughter indicated that Surtur was getting closer to breaching the dimensional barrier. Everything rattled around them and the Avengers braced themselves for the impact. They believed that all might be lost. The fire demon pushed through the barriers and things had gone from bad to worse.

* * *

"I don't know if you have realized this, but Midgard is rapidly running out of time," Amora responded when she clutched her knees on the path. The sorceress turned and surveyed the three heroes she was saddled with using a critical eye. "And…I don't know what you're doing, if you aren't figuring out this plan. Are we sight seeing?"

Natasha answered before Harry had a chance to do so. "If you haven't been meddling in things you could not understand, then we would not have been placed into this situation to begin with."

The Enchantress was not too happy with being called upon her flaws and got into the face of the Black Widow. "If you and your club of meddlesome do-gooders haven't interfered then we wouldn't be transported into this shadow realm where we would wither and die."

"Well your question for power was all on you," Natasha answered, with a folding of her arms.

Thor and Harry exchanged an uneasy look before Thor spoke up. "I think, young mage, it might be prudent to break this up before an even direr situation presents itself."

"Agreed," Harry remarked when he watched Thor carefully before he clapped his hands and both women turned around, agitated. "Ladies, we might have some serious issues between the both of you, but that's beside the point."

"Save it for our foes, for they will bring the fight," Thor warned them and Natasha and Amora eyed each other.

The key difference between men and women were such, at least that's what Harry figured out.

Two men would have a fight, they would have it out, maybe exchange some punches with each other and draw some blood. What was a bone or two being broken between blokes anyway? But when the day was over, bygones would be bygones. They would hash it out over a pint and all would be jolly good.

When two women had a fight, well things tended to get far more towards the ugly side, even if the two women in question were quite frankly beautiful. Women did not forgive and forget easily, nor did they play by the rules. They were vicious and malicious, to the point where they obliterated everything that stood in their way. The fights often were violent and there was no reconciliation over a pint, no far from it.

Natasha eyed the Enchantress, but she was a SHIELD agent, a spy, she could keep her temper in check and make sure to work within the lines of the mission. Even if it was against an arrogant brat who deserved a spanking like the Enchantress, Natasha was willing to play ball for the fate of the world. "Fine."

"Yes, back away," Amora responded but Thor grabbed her by the wrist carefully.

"Do you not know of the treachery you have wrought, Enchantress?" Thor asked her but she shifted her expression and her shoulders.

Harry thought that there was honestly no point in arguing so he turned to Black Widow. "Any luck with any of that equipment that you're lugging."

She shook her head and it confirmed Harry's suspicions. "It was as bad as I thought then."

Natasha stood rigid and she blinked before bringing up the very obvious question. "What was as bad as you thought?"

Harry was only too happy to bring her up to speed on everything, putting a hand on the ground. "The magical pulse has shorted out everything electronic. All technology is completely nuked."

"So basically what people thought for Y2K, only far worse," Natasha stated, fearing the worst was about to happen.

"Humans and their conveniences," Amora responded but Harry turned to her slowly. She backed up slowly, feeling the power wash off of him. His larger than life presence rattled even the strongest of woman and the Enchantress thought herself to be stronger than most. She stood, blonde hair whipping back and forth.

"Please tell me you have a plan," Natasha stated, trying not to sound like she was pleading but the look of urgency could not be kept from her voice.

"Working on one as we speak but I do think that we need to snap it up," Harry answered when he felt the ground heat up underneath them.

Indeed, they had to speed up the plan, before it was too late.

**To Be Continued. **


	7. Part VII

**Part VII**

The biting winds kicked up in the shadow realm and Harry stood alert. Constant vigilance, knowing that the next time he blinked, that could give his enemy a chance to knock his head cleanly off. So Harry ceased blinking but he did edge himself forward a little bit, keeping his knees rigid when he walked forward. The rest of the party followed him forward and Thor paused.

"Could the exit be very near?" Thor inquired and he paused, waiting for the answers to be given.

Harry thought that was a pretty good question and one that he wished to satisfactory answer in due time. Now he edged closer and closer to the edge, making his footsteps rigid when he walked. The wizard carefully made his movements fluid and nearly staggered but he stayed the course, somehow, someway.

"We could just be going around in circles," Amora responded but never the less she kept her eyes open. There was always a backdoor left in these shadow realms but the problem was that escaping them would be rather lethal. "I think…"

"I might have found something," Harry chimed in, before the Enchantress could even continue her statement. Harry edged himself closer and closer to the edge of the everything, keeping himself on his toes and he perked up an ear.

There was humming and then there was a growling. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Natasha bracing herself for a fight but the young wizard kept his eyes on the prize, trying to keep himself from faltering.

"On your toes," Harry whispered carefully as he picked up a rock and flicked it into the air.

There was a huge explosion and the rock shattered into dust, flicking down to the ground. The wizard followed the progress of said rock and there was one thing that was certain from what he found out. Walking that way was dangerous.

"We take an alternate path," Thor stated, getting the message.

And the alternate path was blocked by a set of footsteps that edged closer towards them. Harry kept his stance still but he eyed them, biting down on his lip. He really did not have any time for something like this but the wizard doubted that he had any choice in the matter. They were going to make him make times for them.

"These dark wraiths are among some of the most dangerous," Thor responded whilst he watched them with a certain amount of trepidation.

Harry paused, he understood what these dark wraiths were or what they resembled, they might have been distant cousins to the Dementors. Whilst the sense of hopelessness did not visit Harry as prominently, there was the fact that they knew that these creatures were there and they were standing before him, waiting and watching. The wizard carefully stood on the ground, edging towards them.

Staying on his toes, with the wizard carefully watching everything around him, biting down on his lip, but there was a paused when he watched everything around him. The wizard stepped lightly and carefully and twirled his wrist. Circular motions were made with his wrist and several flaming spikes appeared, gaining more momentum as Harry gained momentum.

"I suggest you duck," Harry remarked in a crisp voice, before he flicked his wrists and the spikes swung around in a circle, shooting. There was a bang, bang, bang, when the spikes ran off the shadow wraiths.

It was merely a diversion while Harry pinpointed a weakness that he could exploit easily, exactly what that was, well he would find out all too soon. The green eyed sorcerer held himself and Thor gave a generous assist.

Natasha fired off a few shots but now that her gun was magically enhanced, the bullets could easily pierce her enemies. Said enemies were staggered back and Thor brought down the thunder and the lightning upon them, swinging his mighty hammer around.

There was a huge explosion when the wraiths were driven backwards and there was a portal that opened. The Enchantress recognized the significance of this particular portal opening at once as did Harry. Both could agree that it was nothing good and they locked eyes to empathize this point. The pair wondered who would break the silence first but it was Harry who had that happy point, the wizard carefully folding his arms before he inclined his head.

"These portals, the realms are bleeding into each other."

"That is most grave," Thor responded carefully whilst his hammer swung and he smacked everything down with wild swings. There were huge smacks and explosions, when they were sent flying backwards. "We must not despair, there is still plenty of time for us to achieve our ends."

"The problem is, thunderer, is we are running out of time," Amora answered as she decided to impart the nasty bit of wisdom on him, a smile crossing her face. Not the happy smile but the smile of someone who was going to give some bad news. "The realms bleed into each other and Surtur gets free reign over what he wishes to do."

"And I'm reminded who's doing this is," Thor answered, his eyes flaring.

Harry cleared his throat; they had bigger problems on their hands than dispensing aim.

"You shut down the portals once, perhaps you could shut them down again," Amora responded as she fixed her eyes on Harry.

Said wizard tossed his hands into the air in exasperation.

"And you mean you can't shut down a simple portal?" Harry asked, an eyebrow raised and annoyance crossed over the face of the Enchantress.

"Naturally, it is within my capabilities," The Enchantress stated as she paused and then blasted the wraiths down with an attack of her own. They crumbled into ashes on the ground when the attack was aimed. "But I think we both agree how dangerous it is to try and seal the portal shut."

"So you get other people to do your dirty work," Natasha answered, but she had no time to address Amora even further. She was done, she had gun and she had to fire at everything that moved if she hoped to get out of here in one piece.

Harry paused, when he crushed the shadow wraiths with a well-placed binding spell. To say that he was in a horrible situation, well that would be underselling it to be honest. The wizard thought that things could improve a lot but a twisted part of him was having some fun.

* * *

"That's it! I'm sick and tired of these motherfucking snakes on my motherfucking Hellicarrier!"

Fury cursed the day that these reptiles hoped on but several more portals diverted his attention slightly. New York was about to be turned into Swiss cheese with all of the portals that had popped open and Fury dreaded reading the casualty reports. He was sure that they would be mounting but the Director of SHIELD kept one eye on everything around him.

"Work on getting the power back!" Fury barked to the hapless agents that scrambled around, pretty much without a prayer. Fury did not even apologize for being a tad bit short with them, he was not in the mood to deal with something like this. "I want everything back online and I want it back online yesterday."

It had been nearly twelve hours without any power and Fury would be surprised if there were not mass riots. Of course he had his own problems, the fucking snakes were everywhere. He mentally cursed his own luck. This was an escalating shit storm to put things bluntly and Fury wondered if everything would continue to escalate past a certain point.

His eye snapped forward and he checked to see if they made any progress of getting the power back on line. So far there was no progress and Fury essentially seethed, he came extremely close to blowing steam but kept himself in check. There was no time for panic, it was time for decisive action and the director of SHIELD.

"Backup power is still slow with rebooting, the EMPs keep shorting it out."

Fury threw his hands up in frustration. "Magic, of course, it would have to be fucking magic."

Magic always ruined everything, at least that's what Fury thought. His teeth gritted together carefully and he kept an eye on the growing problem. It was bad enough that their magic expert was out; he vanished in a flash of light. And there was no way for SHIELD to track his location.

"Stark's trying to get power back to his suit, so maybe if he accomplishes that, we can get power back online here."

Hawkeye stated that although conviction was not something that statement was said with. Fury gruffly turned to the archer who checked in. It was kind of a pain to go back and forth on foot but Fury enjoyed the progress reports. Even if he hated having to sit in the dark and waited for something to happen, to accomplish anything but be that as it may, the archer was someone who gave Fury something to think about.

"If Stark gets his suit working, then get his ass down here and we can get the rest of the equipment working," Fury responded before he turned and saw the flashes of brimstone in the air. Things were getting more intense and Fury felt the pressure increase for him to do something, before the world became undone. The eagle eyed director of SHIELD closed an eye and gritted down on his teeth. The fact that the world was doomed was becoming too obvious.

Despite that fact, Fury refused to back down, adversity was not an enemy for him, no Fury thrived on it and he would continue to thrive despite the fact that he was outgunned. Despite the facts that snakes overran his Hellicarrier, he pressed on with the fight. One eye was on everything when Fury concluded what had to happen. The Director of SHIELD pushed down on his lips and carefully gritted down on his teeth.

"It's time," Fury remarked in a crisp voice; he edged forward, he hoped he never had to unleash this particular protocol. The events of today forced his hand. "It's time to redirect the SHIELD energy cells, try and pool all reserve power we could."

"Commander, that's suicide," one of the hapless agents of SHIELD stated but Fury's eye turned to him, beady as always.

"It's suicide not to do anything, agent," Fury answered when he crisply watched everything and could hear the screams. They got louder and more obnoxious but Fury refused to back down. Nothing was going to break his stride tonight. The eagle eyed agent of SHIELD oozed toughness and that was he was going to do. "Unless you have another way."

The agent frantically shook his head to the point where Fury wondered whether or not it would fall off.

"No…sir, no sir," the Agent responded, bowing his head.

"Then if you don't have anything, then you're useless, so work with the rest of the team," Fury remarked and he turned to Hawkeye, but he was gone. This left the Agent of SHIELD alone to do the dirty work that many men would quiver at but he was not going to go down without a fight.

Fury stood up, tall, with a straight posture, his knuckles cracked. He imagined wrapping his strong hands around the throat of the person behind this. Like it or not, Fury was not going to go down without a fight. Many people went down with a whimper when struck with adversity but not Nick Fury, he went at everything, an eye for an eye.

He was not going to let a bunch of motherfucking snakes on his motherfucking hellicarrier get the better of him.

It was time to pull out the big guns and he loaded one, he was going to shoot anything that did not move. A huge blast destroyed one of the snakes and nearly left a hole in the bottom of the Hellicarrier.

"Diverting back up energy."

"Get a spark if you can," Fury answered; he knew that if they activated one component from the shield, they could deactivate the EMP pulses or at least protect the equipment from them.

Several ticks of the clock later and the men still were working around the clock. To steal a phrase from someone, they might have been the best in the world at what they did and what they did was not very nice but it didn't matter. If they could not figure out how to get the power back running in five seconds, they would all be pushing up daisies. Fury flickered his eye forward.

'_Do or die,' _Fury thought to himself.

He would do or he would die, that's the problem. Fury gritted his teeth, allowing his eye to swivel from one side to the other.

The radios crackled back to life, slowly and there was a lot of static in them. At least that was progress compared to the nothing they received a short time ago.

Progress they could work on and that could be built on, if they allowed themselves a few moments to figure out everything that were going on. The sparks of electricity that flew was proof that they could do something great.

* * *

Tony Stark was called many things, mostly by the many tabloids who reported on his misadventures in public. He would have you know that only half of those rumors had any bit of truth to them at all. The Armored Avenger felt his hand twitch when the cables fed into his suit and the solar energy stored tried to get him back to life.

Stark was either one or two things. He was an utter genius or completely and totally out of his mind, although both fit the situation that he was in. Should this work, Stark would get his armor powered up and would be able to assist the Avengers.

"You are using too much power, Iron Man."

"T'Challa, I know what I'm doing," Stark responded but the truth was that he had just as much of a chance of blowing himself into pretty little blood chunks spilled all over the wall of Stark Industries as he did with bringing his systems back to life.

Time would be the only judge and history as well, whether or not Tony Stark made a smart decision or a blunder of epic proportions. He waited for the armor to shift back to life and he heard it come back to life.

He raised an arm.

"It's alive….it's alive!" Tony managed, he couldn't resist even though he felt he should.

"Yes, it's alive," Spider Woman responded, a smile twitching on her face despite the situation.

They wondered if Stark would say something like that but he pulled himself up, and Stark managed to get up. The weapon system on the suit was a bit clunky but it would have to do for now.

"Battery power only operational for ninety minutes," the suit warned him.

Stark was given a little pause for that, okay ninety minutes of battery power was not likely a good thing. Still, what was life without a little pressure. Stark always felt that if you didn't live life on the edge ,you were taking up a bit too much space.

Hawkeye returned and saw that Stark got the suit up and running. "So now that you're done playing Doctor Frankenstein, maybe we can get this show on the road?"

Tony offered a grin, showcasing his playboy billionaire charm as only he could. He watched them before shaking his head.

"Battery power is only operational for eighty nine minutes at the most," Stark informed them and Hawkeye answered with an inclined head.

"More good news," Hawkeye answered in a flat voice, closing his eyes but the archer braced himself for the impact that was about to happen.

"Yeah it might seem bad at first but if we can figure out how to turn a negative into a positive, we might be able to win the day," Stark responded when he turned around. "So Hulk, Carol, and Steve are fighting that Surtur guy and his minions."

"And Widow, Thor, and Potter followed the yellow brick road with the Enchantress all the way to Oz," Hawkeye informed them and Stark motioned for them to head their way out the door. "And Fury wants you to get his stuff back on line as well when you can manage it."

"Tell him to take a number and get in line, I'll get to it eventually," Stark responded in a flat voice, he had other things to worry about.

Everything was not going according to plan, at least that's what Stark thought. The armor clad Avenger pushed himself forward, the pressure was on and he was not delivering. His team needed to meet up and defeat them.

"And Zemo's now somehow the least of our problems," Hawkeye responded but he saw a fire demon perched, with a nasty toothy grin etched on its face. It gave Hawkeye no warning before it launched fire and brimstone down across the top of his head. "And this day just keeps getting better and…argh better."

Clint Barton aimed himself and tried to hit his shot.

"Missed, mortal," the demon stated but Barton's face spread into a wide smile.

"I never miss," Hawkeye answered with a smirk; he kept his eyes on the prize and there was a huge explosion before ropes wrapped around the demon.

It was only a temporary measure and Stark launched himself up, blasting the beams from his suit of armor and nailed them.

"Fancy meeting you here," Hulk grunted before he pulled down the pillars.

"You don't think that you could defeat me, could you?"

"That gets old after a while, doesn't it?" Hawkeye asked in a bored tone as he fired off a shot.

"You get used to it after a while," Ms. Marvel answered before she blasted the beams from her hands and knocked her enemy backwards, causing him to fly with a clatter down onto the ground. The blonde haired heroine launched herself backwards.

"But let's finish this so we can go on home before everything goes to hell in a hand basket," Hawkeye responded with a brief nod before he launched a barrage of arrows one after another in the air. The arrows fired around the energy shield.

"Shield's got preliminary power back up," Fury responded, albeit in a garbled voice. "There is a tear in time and space that's increasing by every moment."

"Great," Stark grunted as he tried to maneuver his armor, fearing that the power would cut back at any second. "More bad news."

"Any good news for a change?" Hawkeye asked.

"Depends on what your definition of good news is," Fury responded as he carefully folded his hands and inclined his head slightly.

"What's the damage?" Spider Woman asked before she knocked her adversary down and the armed SHIELD troops back them up.

"The damage is that the dimensional rift that's tearing open and if our calculations are right….well I'm not an expert, but this is what's happening," Fury responded in a crisp and clear voice. "The dimensions are merging together."

There were no words for that.

"Take them out and find a solution if possible," Captain America responded, deciding that someone had to keep their head about themselves in this situation.

* * *

"Well, do any of you want our latest weather report?" Harry asked, his face ashen and covered with sweat as he soldiered on the path.

Natasha picked up the note of irritation in his voice and let out a sight, before she turned to him. "Let it out."

Harry drummed his fingers carefully before he did let it out. "Well, there's a chance, a small one that we could get out of here and if we could get out of here, there's a chance we could stop Surtur."

"Do not sugar coat it then," Amora answered in a crisp voice. "Very well then, I will tell them, there is an even greater chance that we will face utter obviation."

She paused before she let out the other part of her statement.

"But if we do not do anything, there is also a chance that we will be utterly obliterated," Amora answered when she tossed her hair back and decided to throw the ball into the court of her heroes. Normally, she would calculate a fallout plan but there was a huge issue. There was none that came to mind.

"So now it's damned if we do, damned if we don't," Natasha answered, but the good news was that there were no enemies making their way over to attack. That was the silver lining to the cloud of despair.

"Hole is increasing, at its rate, we're going to have a really big bang between the nine main realms colliding together, along with several sub-realms," Harry muttered and they turned to him. "At this rate of calculation, the collision will happen in nine minutes and five nine seconds."

Harry hated to be the one to bring down the news of doom and gloom but many times, being a realist quite frankly sucked and Harry was going to bring down that news. The green eyed wizard turned towards the edge before he pivoted on the spot. Slowly, Harry turned; time almost froze when he did.

"And I bet you can't guess where the focal point is, where I'm going to have to go and shut it down," Harry answered but that was a rhetorical question. "Come on, take a wild guess."

"It's in the realm with Surtur," Black Widow stated as she let out her breath, flowing her red hair away from her face. To say the situation escalated even more would be an understatement of the century.

"Naturally I have a plan."

Natasha figured as much but she inquired the next point with much trepidation, nearly biting down on her lip.

"Is it a safe one?" Natasha asked.

"You're a spy, you know that risks are going to need to be taken," Harry answered, side stepping the question with all of the precision of a politician.

Natasha frowned, for some reason, she did not really expect an answer to that question. Still it would have been kind of useful to have one.

"I'll worry about safety when I'm involved, thank you," Harry responded when he closed his eyes.

He did wonder, being the Master of Death, if he could really die. Or be trapped in limbo until his body recovered from whatever injuries. A sane person would not want to test that theory or try his luck. The Hallows were interesting, until one realized that the true power lied within a chosen wizard, and the Hallows were merely extremely powerful keys to open them up. One of the biggest hoaxes in the history of wizardkind in some ways; the green eyed wizard recalled his studies of them but he was no closer to uncovering the mysteries of what they had to offer than he did with the meaning of life itself.

It was time, for better or for worse, it was time and Harry saw his doorway out.

"We have a chance that we can get through or as the Enchantress so brightly put it, we have a chance for utter annihilation."

"It doesn't matter what we choose at this point," Natasha answered, ready to take the risk.

None of them knew if there was going to be an Earth to get back to in the first place. The collective efforts of all of them were only barely able to push their enemies back through the portal and out of harm's way. And it was great strain that Harry sealed every single other portal shut. It was to the point where he could barely stand on his feet after all the magic that he expanded in his attempts to get this done.

Despite all that, Harry refused to back down, past the point of what many considered sane, the wizard refused to back down.

'_The moment of truth,' _Harry thought with his eyes closing and he inched one step forward.

His knee inclined a little bit before the dark haired wizard carefully made his way forward.

"This way," Harry guided them through the portal, his hands twitching slightly.

Thor followed, being bold and braze as always. The Prince of Thunder was not someone who would show any fear. There was the laughter, cold and incoherent from behind them and Harry and Thor paid them no mind.

Black Widow followed, she had seen much in her life and was not afraid of anything, all she needed to do is edge through the portal. The red haired spy made her way through the portal, carefully making her way into it.

The Enchantress waited at the edge but felt that after all that happened, she had nothing to lose. Plus there was even more to gain in the back of her mind. Revenge, and she would be glad to assist the heroes if it benefitted her. And there was no higher benefit than gaining her revenge on Surtur and accomplishing the victory.

The blond sorceress from Asgard edged forward, time stood still but all of them disappeared into a flash of light. Thoughts of whether or not they would reappear in one piece were shelved for the moment, now they kept going towards the portal, anxious and nervous.

* * *

Calm often happened before the storm. It was a crisp moment before the end that many dreaded, the cataclysmic explosion that was about to happen.

Captain America was a veteran of the Second World War and while historical scholars studied the war, one could barely only scratch the surface if they were there. His shield was held in his hand proudly, before he swung it high, spinning it like a discus. It flew through the air, landing with a clatter so heavily. The impact resounded against one of the enemies and they knew that they were struck head on.

Stark peered towards one of the vortexes. "Heads up, there's more trouble coming through."

Trouble, what trouble would that be? That was something that they wondered and they would find out all too soon. Several cracks echoed above their heads. The Avengers braced themselves for the impact that was going to happen. Breath hitched in when their heads spun around, tilted up towards the sky. What was going to come through the portal?

"Get ready," Ms. Marvel answered as her hands twitched up and down a little bit, the blue eyed blonde feeling a bit of a heart beat increase when she watched everything swarm over her head, turning her head, a twitch in her eye when she watched.

"We've been ready," Spider Woman answered in a short tone of voice the thunderous explosion of Thor echoed. The Avengers backed up, feeling a bit relieved to see one of their charter memories. Black Widow appeared next.

"Well that's a relief," Stark remarked, watching them exit the portal with a smile. "For a second I thought that you were something dangerous."

Natasha could not resist having a small smile cross her face as she eyed the Iron Avenger. "And what makes you think I'm not dangerous in any way?"

Iron Man stepped back, saying the Black Widow was not dangerous was likely something that he would not regret for long. He held his hands up and responded in his usual manner. "Believe me, no one is saying that."

"So where's our magic boy?" Hawkeye asked, feeling a bit low on arrows, and that was never a good thing. There was a pause where the rest of the team were too busy fighting for their lives to answer that one simple line of inquiry.

Fortunately or perhaps unfortunately, that question need not be answered, when Harry shot out of the portal, blazing fire in his eyes. The wizard looked like a demon flying out of hell and even the actual fire demons backed off, when he rained down ice cold water on them. Water backed them off but it would not take them down for long. The mage kept his attack up, kicking things up a notch when he aimed his attacks at them, sending blighting blue lights through the air and knocking them down.

Harry closed his eyes when he watched and felt the fruits of his labor and the fruits of his attacks. But closing his eyes offered him something else, another point, access to the full spectrum of magic. He wondered where the Enchantress went, for she was most certainly behind them when he exited the portal. Now she was not with them.

"Hey, we could use some magical like back up down here!"

That yell fell on the deaf ears of Harry Potter, for he was backing them up, granted it was being done in his own way. The wizard had his powers back and he edged himself closer to the point of no return. Bright green eyes screwed shut when Harry tapped into the full powers around him to try and track his enemy.

He should have known that his efforts would not have gone unanswered. A rumbling voice echoed from around Harry and caused the wizard to stand up on his toes. He swayed to one side, then to the next, before adjusting his footing. The thunderous voice crackled in his ears and Harry knew that they were in for it now.

"All of my enemies are now in one spot."

That voice never sounded good, especially when in that tone and the rate the sky was opening up, they were running out of time.

'_One last ditch effort,' _Harry thought to himself but the wave of energy held him back. The wizard tried to push himself towards it but he flew backwards with a huge smash.

"So be it, the end is near for you all."

"Avengers, this is our only shot, make it count!"

**To Be Continued in Part VIII. **


	8. Part VIII

**Part VIII**

What was time if not a metric that people put on themselves to try and limit what they could do? Seconds, minutes, hours, all of them ran by, merely specs in the grand spectrum of the multiverse. Time was something that delivered them all and the wizard known as Harry Potter knew that despite everything, time was not something that mastered him. Rather he could master time and the wizard turned his head, carefully blinking. He never faltered in his actions, for if he faltered, the dark haired wizard would see that everything would be lost like a house of cards. It would crumble and the world that he longed so much to protect would be destroyed.

"My enemies all here in one location, the perfect venue for destruction."

"Villain, no one has been destroyed yet!" Thor yelled, bellowing, his voice echoing through the universe. His hammer crackled with energy, and the rest of the Avengers stood. Harry saw the looks on their face. Determined, fierce, fearless, all of the qualities of what one might consider to be that of a true hero.

All of the qualities of lambs that were being lead to the slaughter, oh yes Harry recognized the looks that were plastered on the face of the Avengers. That was a look that was plastered on his face every single day he fought odds that no sane man should have. Every day he stood back and looked in the mirror, that was the look that stared back at him. The wizard recognized it and there was a part of him that feared that look. Feared that it could happen again, despite his better efforts to prevent it from happening, there was a danger of it every happening again.

Harry pondered the situation but he saw Iron Man, blasting his repulser beams.

"Nothing gets through!" Iron Man yelled and Black Panther tried to slash the light, but he was bounced back.

"Of course nothing gets through but that doesn't mean we have to give up that easily," Captain America responded, if he died, he would die defending as many civilians as possible and perhaps saving his fellow team members, the Avengers, allowing them to all fight another day. The Spirit of America jumped up and swung his shield around, swinging it wildly in an attempt to take down his enemy.

CLANG.

The shield bounced off of the energy portal and dented beyond all recognition. Captain America watched as his shield clashed to the ground, dents in it. It was a shield that should not have broken, or even dented but the powerful energy blast somehow damaged it.

Hawkeye was out of arrows t fire, as the energy demons circled them, a loud whistling sound when the brimstone flied in the air could be heard. A sinister echo, an even more sinister whee sound could be heard and the fire rained down.

"Running out of options!" Hawkeye yelled while he dodged the attacks of the enemy with frantic fury.

"Watch your back," Ms. Marvel yelled as she blasted the demons through the portal.

"Back you fiend, you shall not have Midgard!" Thor bellowed. "You are an abomination that never should have lived, you are…."

"You are a fool Thunder God," Surtur thundered when his power smacked the powerful god down to the ground. Thor flew head over heels and landed with a thunderous attack.

The Avengers continued to fight but there was one thing that was certain, they were grossly outmatched in every single way. And Iron Man in particular, the more energy he expanded, the sooner his suit would shut down and kill him. This temporary back up was his final lifeline. He continued to fight on despite that, because he was an Avenger and that's what the Avengers did.

Speaking of which, they noticed one of their number missing, technically two of their number. The Enchantress decided to exit stage left, which was not surprising given the woman's temperament. Yet there was another part that was missing.

"Where is Harry?" Natasha asked while also blasting the fire demons with a full electrical force but it only stunned them.

"The pipes have been blocked, this guy's actually learning from his mistakes," Hawkeye stated with a grunt before his mind registered the question. "And Potter….how should I know where he sauntered on off to? You know, the more I see him the less reliable he is."

Captain America used his severely damaged shield to stave off the attacks of the demons but he dropped to one knee, sweat rolling off his forehead.

"Maybe," Captain America admitted after he spun around, flipping the shield around and it flew like a disc, smashing into the demons even more. "Or maybe he's coming up with the plan that could save us all."

That was brought with such skepticism but the Hulk brought down the fury, smashing his fists into the ground. That rocked the monsters, when Thor swung his hammer, trying to bring the water as much as the thunder.

"Assist me in herding them back through the gateway!" Thor thundered, his eyes widened when he quenched their fire. He knew that it would not be for long so he must move quickly.

The Avengers assisted them, blasting them forward. There was a series of intense attacks, when they herded the creatures back through the portal. The explosions resounded when the Avengers picked up an intense pace.

"You delay the inevitable!" Surtur stated as he summoned more power to himself.

"No, no delay, we're just too busy defeating you," Ms. Marvel responded as she aimed another heavy blast, blowing the energy through the portal. The blonde heroine swooped around, circling but the portal deflected her and bounced her back like a ping-pong ball.

"Hawkeye, Panther, to the left with me, Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, Black Widow, to the right with Thor," Captain America stated, using his tactical abilities to move around and get a winning range of attacks. He raised an eyebrow before he added to Hulk who stood there. "Hulk?"

Hulk inclined his head and waited to see what Captain America wanted him to do. Hopefully he kept it simple.

"Smash!"

Hulk's face spread into a grin, that statement was music to his ears. He pushed himself forward, running, getting closer and closer. Both fists extended upwards, his arms swung back, and he swung forward. A huge crash resounded when Hulk smashed through the barrier, when the Avengers circled around. Captain America flew from one end, Thor from the other, and the huge echoes resounded in every direction.

There was one question on their minds, where in the world was Harry Potter. As it turned out, he was up closer dealing with the situation than any of them were to begin with.

* * *

Harry edged himself towards the realm where Surtur was situated, feeling the heat in more ways than one. Sweat rolled down his face and caused his movement to be slowed. Magic can do many things and increase the stamina was one of those things. The wizard kept pushing himself forward, blinking his eyes, before he shoved himself forward, knees twisting a little bit. The wizard remained carefully on his feet and edged forward. He knew that time ran short but that was fine.

Was time not something that he mastered?

Ten minutes, perhaps slightly less by now, no problem, what was life without a little bit of pressure? It was boring, useless, really not anything that Harry felt that was worth living. There was always excitement in the eyes of Harry Potter and he kept walking forward, taking a few steps closer to the situation at hand. The wizard stood and soldiered forward for the adventure.

His life was always full of excitement, adventure, but his death, he didn't want it to go out with a whimper, but rather with a bang, likely in the most spectacular way possible. And perhaps it was his lack of sanity trickling in, but Harry could not think of a more exciting way to meet his eternal reward than by saving the entire world from certain fiery death.

It wouldn't be easy.

Easy, perhaps not, but Harry thought that he would stand tall and proud, head and shoulders above the rest. If he just did this one simple thing, he could lead himself to a land of greatness. A time where he would be brought to higher heights and would be recognized, not by some secluded group of relics who changed their stance on him more than they changed their pants, but he would recognized by the entire world.

Harry did not go in there planning to die, because that was an attitude that would lead to his utter demise. However, he did plan to go in there and triumph, fight the good fight, and all that jazz.

All electronics were fried in the world, all of the lights were out, and from what Harry could sense on the outside of the world, darkness was about to fade across the land. Not that it mattered; Harry was used to doing things in the dark. He spread himself forward and thought about the blind spots that most people took for granted and that he might be able to exploit.

A huge blind spot was the fact that Surtur was not as strong as he made himself to be, at least not yet. It was all about perception and Surtur was giving the perception that he was a force of nature. Yet he stood in the shadows, sending forth minion after minion in his attempt to take down Harry and the Avengers.

This blind spot was something that fed into the rather real fear that they had towards this monster of a demon. His eyes glowed with power and said power increased, flickering into the night. The wizard edged himself further into the distance, keeping himself on his toes. The wizard heard a heartbeat thump.

It was obvious; there was an instant, a chance, that every single heart could be snuffed out on Earth. He heard the Avengers in the distance, fighting, and he mentally wished them luck. Even though luck rarely had anything to do with anything, it was all about skill and that was something that may have faltered in the face of danger. Those who were reluctant to not think outside their powers often grew in their mind. Power was a tool, magic or otherwise.

'_Three Nexus points,' _Harry thought to himself, knowing what was on the line. Those three Nexus points were something of a bother, three areas where the portal energy was cycling the strongest in between the realms.

Take them out, and Surtur is shut down for good.

Fail to take them out and they all die.

It was not like Harry was underneath any pressure or anything. He thrived in the face of danger, to the point where he almost laughed it off. The wizard stood at precipice of true power and continued to walk over.

Rattle, rattle, rattle, that went the ground and hellfire and brimstone shot up, but Harry closed his eyes. Armor magically appeared around him, shielding his body, giving him almost six inches of protection. It was enough to block most major attacks and also enough to make him feel like he could move around in circles. Spinning on his heel, Harry conjured a water spear.

He watched the demons circle around him, sinister laughing echoing from their mouths. A cooling breeze could be heard and his arms became numb but he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Let's rock."

Harry closed his eyes, keeping himself calm, cool, becoming one with his powers and one with his tool. He smashed the blade into the chest of one of the demons, causing him to burst into nothing with the watery tool. The wizard flipped over onto his feet and aimed the blade, before slamming it into his enemy once again. Swing and stab, spin and swing, around and again, until he kept up the attack with fluid motions. The wizard edged himself across the way and heard the bang, bang, bang of several portals opening.

The Avengers were here.

"How did we get here?" Iron Man asked and Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Unless this was part of the plan."

"So what do you have to say that, Cap?" Hawkeye asked and Captain America shrugged.

"It didn't go as planned, but we're here, so let's take them down," Captain America stated as he rushed forward and saw the team surrounding him. It was now or never. "Avengers…."

He dodged the attack, never missing a beat, holding onto his shield, and swinging it. He was about to say Assemble but the Avengers transported out again, shot out of the portal.

Harry shook his head, this did not go as planned but he had to stay on task. If he didn't stay on task, there was no way for him to figure out how to get out of here. Water spear was aimed and swung, stabbing into an enemy when it ambled forward. Another swing and another stab took it out of the battle.

"No matter what, you lose sorcerer."

"Sorry, never bothered to look up the meaning of the word failure in the dictionary," Harry stated as he pinpointed the nexus point, done with great difficulty but he did it. He was getting so close that he could feel it. The wizard carefully edged himself forward, swiping his way through the portal.

A loud bang echoed and the mystical energies collided with Harry's own energies. It was a tug of war and a battle of will powers but Harry managed to edge out ahead, because like he said, he never learned the meaning of the word "defeat". He popped on through the portal, landing on the other side with a huge splash.

As for the first Nexus Point, he was very near, nearer than Surtur wanted him to be. The pressure was put on but for the enemy this time, which was a favorable outcome for Harry.

* * *

Getting that first Nexus Point was something that was simple for Harry, although perhaps not really. Still getting to the first Nexus Point was not going to be that hard, but actually shutting down the Nexus Point from his vantage point, that was something that took a lot of talent. The wizard stepped forward and saw the glowing pedestal. It was a few feet from him, a couple of arm's lengths even. The wizard kept edging forward, before he watched it.

'_Not easy, it's never that easy.'_

Harry thought that it might be a negative thought to have but it was never the less an accurate one. The wizard moved his way, feeling himself at the edge. Green eyes stared forward, when he waved his hand, revealing any surprises. Sure enough, there were pressure pads, magically enhanced to release some nasty guardians to make him avoid the Nexus Point. It was a double edged sword in many ways. The first way was that if Harry stepped on the ground at certain points, he could release the guardians.

The next way was that if Harry tried to deactivate it too quickly, he would release the guardians. That would bring him back to square one. There was a right way to deactivate it without releasing the guardians, but Harry knew that it could blow up in his face easier than he could ever imagine. And besides, the barriers would have crashed together, releasing Surtur into earth.

So there was only one thing for Harry to do. He propelled himself up into the air, past the barrier, and tried to smash the pedestal, the first Nexus Point. He closed his eyes, determination flooding from his face, when he pushed himself through the portal and nearly smashed it hard. It propelled him back and he landed on the ground. The wizard flew back.

"Yep it wasn't that easy, it never is that easy," Harry muttered after he heard the rumbling.

He saw another portal open over his shoulder but he paid it very little mind. The wizard kept at it, working the portal open. The wizard pushed through the gateway, trying to work the portal open. And the wizard saw the guardians. Giant troll faced creatures with sharp claws and tentacles, with sharp razor points on them. Harry wondered how these creatures were dreamed up, it was likely a manifestation of someone's crack induced nightmares.

Captain America's shield flew but it took its final hit when one of the creatures speared through it. The shield smashed to bits, taking its final shot but it was not the shield that made the man but the man that made the shield. Captain America flew forward, with the Hulk smashing his way through the barrier.

"Any idea what these things are?" Hawkeye asked, feeling very vulnerable without his arsenal. So Harry took bit on him and conjured him a new arsenal. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Harry answered with a swift grunt, when he propelled one of the creatures back. He calculated what he had to do now. "Keep them off my back; I've got to destroy that pedestal."

"You've heard the man," Captain America stated without a second thought. "Keep whatever these things are off of him and work with him."

"Got it," Black Widow stated before she shocked the creatures. Electricity did a surprisingly amount of damage to them and rattled the creatures, causing them to stagger a little bit from the impact. "We can damage them like this."

"Tough but not invulnerable and more monstrous than skilled," Thor stated whe he brought the hammer down. "Back you vile fiends."

Harry kept moving forward, he was getting closer to the edge, he knew it, they all knew it. But he was not about to go down without a fight. The wizard kept himself on edge, standing on his toes, and he swung a huge solid impact against the pedestal. The magic flew back and down, cracking the pedestal and sent magic sparking in every single direction. The wizard kept himself on edge, taking a moment to drop to his knee.

He had to summon more power than he ever had before, tapping into all of the energy that he could. Everything swirled around him, when his heart sped up. It made a dastardly thump-thump, when he took a moment to collect his thoughts, before propelling himself into the air.

He made sure but the nexus point was completely gone and so were the guardians upon his destruction. He staggered a little bit, on jelly legs, but Harry rocked back.

No he could not go down, not now. He was too strong to fall down on the ground, that was something that was for sure. The wizard remained standing up and Natasha reached over, grabbing him, pressed up against him a little bit.

"Looks like you need some support," she responded, with a slight smile.

"Well, that's the kind of support that I can get behind," Harry responded when he kept himself on the edge, feeling his knees buckle slightly but he kept on his feet. "Okay, we've got a slight problem."

"Only the one?" Iron Man asked.

"Six minutes, maybe less," Harry responded, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. Even though his frustration was stronger than he was. "Two more nexus points, I need you to destroy them."

"Do you need to ask?" Thor asked, raising himself tall.

"It could destroy you but it could save countless lives," Harry added, feeling that there was a need for full disclosure in this situation. Several sets of eyes spun around to each other. "That's why I was reluctant to ask for help but…."

"There is no need to say the word, you just nod your head and the Avengers will do what we have to do," Ms. Marvel responded, feeling that they were dangerously edging towards a situation that was more hopeless. "We know every single day we head out there, it might be the very last time we head out there.

"So it's settled," Stark answered and they all nodded.

"Split into two teams, take out both Nexus points at once, that will divide Surtur's attention three ways," Harry responded, mentally feeding the information to their minds about what he's tracked.

"Okay, that's a bit….well this is weird," Spider Woman responded.

Hawkeye decided to point out a rather fundamental flaw in Harry's thought process. "I don't know if wizards have math class but if there are two Nexus points, how could they be separated three ways?"

"Who do you think's going after Surtur?" Harry asked them and they all realized what he had planned now. "I wish you the best of luck."

Harry paused before he added. "And since, I'm going to die anyway…"

Harry grabbed a surprised Natasha around the waist, dipped her, and kissed her, before he vanished into a cloud of smoke.

"Well, that was bold," Hawkeye remarked, with the other members of the team not sure what they saw.

"Hey, Natasha, are you there?" Stark asked, snapping his fingers.

"Yes, Tony, I'm here," Natasha responded, her eyes blinking in a slightly catatonic manner but she shook her head.

'_Business first, if we survive this,' _the spy thought to herself.

* * *

'_Reset the ritual, fight the demon, save the world,' _Harry thought when he turned his head around. _'Why do I have a feeling that I just sent a bunch of people to their graves?'_

Harry paused before he mentally answered himself.

'_Likely because I have,' _Harry thought with a grimace as he turned around. Although to be fair, it was not like any of them were ignorant about what they signed up for. Harry warned them and the wizard edged forward, carefully crossing his arms. The fire nearly scorched his skin when he moved closer. He was in the heart of enemy territory, in the heart of danger.

Harry Potter stepped into the belly of the beast and into the heart of darkness. The wizard crossed his arms; he had been through far worse situations. Yet despite that, he remained stronger.

"You actually had the nerve to show up in this realm."

Harry's arms crossed when he spotted the enemy. Surtur stood there, face surrounded by fire. He was essentially a force of nature that even the darkest of the dark feared. He put fear into the hearts of the most hardened of men and the wicked ones as well. The wizard swayed his body and did not back down. Why would he back down, he had looked death in the eyes several times. Not quite mastering it, but….somehow he kept himself standing on the straight and narrow.

"You are a reckless fool," Surtur responded as his eyes stared down the face of Harry Potter.

'_Been told that before,' _Harry thought to himself.

"You have no chance in defeating me,' Surtur continued in a thunderous voice and Harry's face spread into a slight smile.

'_I've been told that before too,' _Harry thought in a bored tone, trying to pinpoint a weak spot or at least a spot that was not as strong. He had a feeling that someone like Surtur would not have a weak spot. That might have been a defeatist attitude but never the less, it was an accurate one.

"I will annihilate you and make you regret coming here," Surtur answered as he stepped down to face him.

'_And that's three,' _Harry thought, before he closed his eyes and propelled himself forward, feet extended, magical energy surrounding the soles of his feet, before nailing him hard in the face with both of them.

Surtur screamed in agony, fury and brimstone surrounded him and Harry pulled out two water blades, swinging them, before he jumped up.

Slash, slash, and he conjured even more powerful magical energy into him.

"You're not going to take this world for your own personal playground, Surtur," Harry answered in a fearless tone of voice.

"Foolish child you cannot…."

"SILENCE!" Harry yelled, getting quite fed up with the constant prattling of Surtur. It was riding his nerve quite intensely and the wizard pushed himself forward, engaging him in battle.

He was as bad as people thought he was. Surtur was a force of nature and when one calculated that, he was extremely dangerous. Several attacks were blocked and Harry pushed himself to higher heights. Knowing that the strain could very well destroy him, and would have been by now had he not been a durable person. Still he was pushing himself through the attacks, and swirling his hand around the attacks, before he propelled himself into the attack.

A sonic boom echoed as Harry struck his enemy. When that attack happened, Surtur staggered back a few steps but his eyes flared. The powerful menace was unable to believe that he had been knocked back in such a way. No one could match him in such a way, and now he was beginning to get annoyed.

There was a huge explosion that distracted him.

"The second Nexus Point," Surtur breathed and Harry smiled, glad to see Iron Man and his team was doing the job that they were supposed to be doing. "It doesn't matter, there is still another and it is the most well protected. This gambit is all for nothing."

"Maybe," Harry admitted before he swerved around the attack, before pushing himself up into the battle and fired back with fury that had been unmatched before. "And maybe not."

"You will burn, along with the rest of the world," Surtur respond, feeling his powers grow even stronger but he was still tethered to the world. And he was going to burn through them all. "You will…."

Thousands of ice spikes shot through the air and impacted Surtur full on. The wizard stood on the ground, breathing heavily, panting, when he felt the pressure of his twist constrict a little bit but he pushed forward. Anger flooded the fire demon, anger that he had been taken down in such a brazen manner.

Two bolts of light connected with each other. Harry managed to focus this one a bit more, knowing what happened the last time two extremely powerful magical bolts struck each other.

'_This is going to hurt,' _Harry thought after the world flashed white around him.

"At last," Surtur responded, when Harry vanished into a pop although from his point of view, he burned this fool of a human sorcerer to a crisp.

* * *

"Second one is down," Thor stated as he took a moment to bask in the glory of a job well done. Even though there was not going to be too much time to bask when he spun around and heard the whirling over the back of his head. There was an instant where he crushed his hands together, taking a moment to edged forward.

"The next path forward…."

"We know," Black Widow responded as she edged forward, and seeing the guardians fail, which gave her relief. "Hawkeye are you still there?"

Hawkeye nodded and Captain America stood at the front of the line. He did not want to think about what might happen if he did not find a way to get to the final nexus point in time. There was flashes of light but he stepped forward. As long as there's one breath left in his body, along as there was one bit of blood pumping through his heart. The First of Avenger pushed himself forward with determination, keeping himself from dropping forward down to the ground.

"Alright there old man?" Hawkeye asked but Captain America turned around.

"Yes, I'm fine but if something happens, it's been an honor," Captain America responded with a heavy heart. This was the zero hour for both of them and they kept on the line, walking further and further into the distant. The first Avenger armed himself for the battle. He threw his head back and breathed in heavily.

Ms. Marvel tried to keep things on an even keel before she responded by shaking her head, feeling a bit of a cough coming on. Inhaling that brimstone was not the most pleasant thing in the world but she soldiered on despite it. She knew the score by now. "It has been an honor but nothing is going to happen."

"You said it yourself, Cap," Iron Man added as he felt the power on his suit begin to falter. He had even less time than before. "We are Avengers and…."

He stopped short and they saw a huge pedestal, going high into the sky. The eyes of every single one of the Avengers peered up and they saw what was above.

"And of course it would be up there, of course," Hawkeye remarked, naturally it couldn't be on the ground.

And surrounding the mountain was lava that flowed in every single direction, one might say that this was getting better, but the truth of the matter was that it was getting worse, much worse. The Avengers stood shoulder to shoulder and long sighs resounded through their beings.

"No one said it was going to be easy," Black Widow repeated, it was something that was repeated every time.

"Avengers….never give up," Iron Man responded as he edged himself step by step, despite the fact that the powers of his suit faltered. He could not worry about that because if Stark tried to think that he was giving up, he was going to defeat himself. "Never give up."

"We never do, we never will," Ms. Marvel responded and Black Panther inclined his head.

"I am with Captain America, it has been an honor and privilege to stand beside you," Black Panther stated as he held his hands careful, staff made of Vibranium in his hand. "So shall we take the plunge."

"We're ready," Hulk answered, and Captain America was already scaling the mountain.

The First Avenger saw it above him, the lifeline to them, the lifeline before the rest of the world, and the lifeline that tethered all of humanity to its doom. If they are able to break it down, they would be able to win the day. Captain America took a moment to look up and they edged to the top.

"Ready?" Thor asked in a serious voice and Captain America nodded his head, before Thor swung his hammer hard down at the top of the pedestal.

A loud explosion resounded but they were knocked down.

"Did you think that I would make these easy?"

"It would have been nice," Iron Man answered in an exasperated tone of voice, before he took a moment to look down, closing his eyes. "So are we going to do this?"

"Your sorcerer thought he could stand up to me, what hope do you Avengers have?"

"As long as there is fight, there is hope," Thor stated but then Thor along with the others got it.

He spoke about Harry like he was in the past tense, which meant….no they could hardly fathom the thought of it.

"What happened to him?" Natasha asked.

"He fought valiantly but it wasn't enough to stand up to me," Surtur responded and he appeared. "Now you Avengers, humanity, and Midgard, along with all life will be annihilated."

**To Be Continued In Part Nine. **


	9. Part IX

**Part IX. **

The smell of fire and brimstone penetrated them through the city, the Avengers looking around, eyes going to the left, eyes going to the right, and their heads snapping up towards the air, before they all took a deep breath. They wondered the exact point where this all went to hell but the world slowly burned around them, as Surtur's laughter.

"It's always darkest before the dawn," Captain America stated in a firm voice as he inclined his head and clutched onto his shield, shaking his head for a moment.

"Well it's pretty dark now," Ms. Marvel answered, taking a moment to fold her hands over and they could hear his thunderous laughter, but not really see him. That put them in a bind, but exactly what that bind was, they had no idea. They would all find out, Avengers together, Avengers united, Avengers assembled.

Thor closed his eyes, swinging his hammer around, before bringing down the thunder and he stampeded forward, trying to attack his enemy. There was a loud crash that echoed around them and Thor spiraled to the ground, landing on his back. The God of Thunder started breathing heavily, as he rolled over. He clutched his ribs, closing his eyes for a brief moment, before rolling over and breathing in and out once again.

"I tried, and I couldn't get through his defenses," Thor responded as Hawkeye and Black Widow helped him up to his feet.

Black Widow flicked her eyes up, there was times where she was in an absolute hopeless situation, but they managed to get out of it. The fire spiraled around the back of their head, causing them to stand up straight. The fact that their magic person vanished in a blast of light made things rather troublesome. Things escalated even more and now they found themselves in this particular situation. There were moments in time where they struggled, trying to gain some kind of footing. The redhead spy shifted herself a little bit, closing her eyes.

"Let's try and circle around and get him all at once," Captain America suggested, throwing his head back with a prominent sigh and the Avengers turned towards him, eyebrows raised.

"Will that work?"

Hawkeye mulled over it in his head. "It's….it's suicide."

"Not doing anything may be suicide even more," Captain America answered and Hulk grunted, nodding his head for a moment, before he became serious.

The Avengers were ready, they knew what they were in and now it was time to reap the benefits. One more attack, an attack that would allow them to win this day. They circled around, blocking the humming that penetrated the air out of their minds. There movements became more labored, as they moved in for the attack. It was time for them to head in and win the day. Save this day, and win everything.

"Hulk, Hawkeye, you know what to do!"

It was a simple maneuver that they trained with but when Captain America gave the signal, they knew what was on the line. There was a boost that brought them up into the air. Hawkeye launched in the air by the Hulk, and was thrown into the eye of the storm. It was a rather mind numbing experience to be this up close and personal but it was the type of experience that someone like Hawkeye lived for. He breathed in heavily and aimed his arrow, before pulling back and shooting for the fences.

It was a one and million shot but there was one thing people needed to know about Hawkeye.

He never missed.

This shot was no exception to that very obvious rule; the arrow whirled through the air and impacted the enemy. There was an immense impact and a miniature explosion.

"Panther, you're up!"

Black Panther was up and swung for the fences, attacking the portal with his Vibranium gauntlets. They impacted the portal heavily but everything got rattled. The thunderous explosion rattled around the enemies and disoriented them.

"Thor, bring down the thunder!"

This declaration from Captain America was met with great job as Thor did in the fact bring down the thunder, swinging his hammer, and he impacted it to the ground. A huge explosion rattled everything around them, and there was a huge crackle and Surtur gave a pained yell of anguish. That was a good sign.

The good sign ended abruptly when the demon exerted his control and knocked the Avengers, causing them flying backwards.

"How much do you want to bet that he makes our deaths slow and drawn out for that?" Hawkeye grumbled, rubbing is side, with a wince.

"For that, I will make your deaths slow, drawn out, and full of misery and anguish!"

Hawkeye gritted his teeth and winced. "I do hate it when I'm right."

"We do too, believe me," Black Widow responded, as they all locked eyes.

One more time, one last time, all together.

"Avengers attack!"

The Avengers attacked, boy did they ever attack. The attack did not end up rather well, in fact they were bounced back.

Boom, boom, boom, they all dropped to the ground with sickening impacts all around. Had they not been relatively fit or super powered, or used to getting knocked around, these attacks would have killed them or shattered every bone in their body.

The demon of fire gritted his teeth and aimed for them.

A blur shot out in front of them and white energy surrounded him, taking the bolt for the Avengers. Suddenly, the figure launched the attack back at Surtur and sent the attack back towards him with fury.

The thunder was brought back down in a different way and Harry Potter stood, not quite dead. Once again, death called his number and Harry did not answer. He refused to go down without a fight, even if it was to the point where most would question his sanity.

Unfortunately the fight was going to come at him, with a ballistic fury. The wizard bit down on his lip and closed his eyes. He ignored the death march that was his heart beating against his ribcage. The wizard shifted his eyes for a moment, carefully watching them all. He bit down on his tongue, keeping his mind on the attack.

They lost control, which was rarely a good thing. But now it was time for them to get it back and the Avengers huddled together.

In time to scatter because another attack fired towards them and rocked their entire being.

* * *

"When was the exact point when we lost control?"

Harry asked that question but no one was willing to give him an answer, at least one that was satisfactory. For a brief moment, they thought they were coming back. The wizard folded his arms over and blew the ashes in the air. He took a hell of a hit and it had been all for nothing. Surtur really was determined to win and his power was something that rolled off of his shoulders.

"Just a….just a moment," Iron Man responded as he twisted the knob on his suit, taking a moment to try and tap into the frequency of SHIELD to try and reach out and touch someone. The Armored Avenger tapped the side of his armor and there was a rattling motion.

He was running out of power and they were running out of time. Iron Man tapped the side of his arm, there was an instant as he waved his arm, and sparks flew.

"That's…not good," Hawkeye answered, but he aimed with the swirling glowing eye in the sky. There was the screams of people, the world was ending.

"The rapture is here!" someone yelled, losing their head.

Harry thought they weren't too far off, as Surtur burned through everything. The wizard took a deep breath, and Spider Woman turned to him.

"You seem awfully calm for someone who is about to be destroyed,' Spider Woman remarked but Harry shrugged, clutching his hands together.

"I can't lose my mind, if I do lose my mind, it will be over," Harry muttered with a sigh, inclining his head up into the sky and calculating everything. Magic did have a certain pull to him because of his talents.

Breath in, breath out, let it flow in and flow out, it might seem like a tried expression but it was one that was extremely true. The wizard carefully edged himself forward and found it humming.

"And we've got contact," Iron Man stated, breaking Harry out of his concentration but only for a moment.

Harry needed to find the faults of the magical energy flowing in the air, there was always some kind of weakness in magic. No matter how strong it was, there was some tiny hole. Perhaps a pinpoint, perhaps a small hole, miniscule, and microscopic, but it existed and it was down to Harry to find it and tear it open to assert himself. Time ran around them, circling from one instant to the other.

Would all be lost? That was something that Harry did not want to be the one to have to answer. The wizard understood the value of sacrifices more so than most and he was lucky to live and fight another day numerous times. Fear was not a luxury that Harry could afford to think about it, rather he needed to focus, he could most certainly do this. The wizard aimed his hand in the air, and swung his fist around, before rocking everything.

"Fury….I don't know if you can hear me," Iron Man managed as he heard the crackling.

"Barely, we got reserve power back online but we need to use it to move in for one last strike,' Fury answered in a gruff voice.

One last strike but they interpreted that statement to mean what they thought it would mean. One last strike, meant one last ditch effort to save the world and blow everything forward; yes, they knew things were going to be that bad.

Harry meanwhile shut off everything other than what was going on around him. There was no need to worry about what SHIELD would do, even though he figured in the back of his head it was bound for failure. No need to tell Fury that, on the off chance that his attack was successful. It was not over until the fat lady sang and she hadn't even begun to warm her vocal cords up as far as Harry is concerned.

'_Flux here, shift here, and….I managed to partially seal the portal and he's expanding a lot of energy and concentration keeping it open,' _Harry thought as he smiled. _'That's it, that kind of focus; it can't be healthy maintaining it at the best of times, never mind now. Oh this might be close, but I think I've got him.'_

Harry paused before he offered one more thought.

'_I really got him.' _Harry thought to himself, but confidence was rarely something that he lacked.

It was a matter of getting the numbers all lined up and the power flowed through his very being. He summoned the most energy that he could, feeling the air around him burn. His body sized up. The green eyed wizard understood that there were certain things about this situation that meant his time could run out. That much was for sure, but he refused to go down without a fight. The fight was still in him and the wizard closed his eyes a little bit, breathing heavily.

'_I've got him, no pain; I've got him, no pain.'_

Spin, pivot, fire, spin, pivot, fire that was another mantra that Harry kept completely in mind. He made sure to keep moving as he fired his spells. Only an idiot stayed stationary but that was an easily exploitable hole in most wand users. Hell there were some Muggle criminals who stood there in one spot so it was not a magical thing per say, it was a people being stupid thing.

Harry closed his eyes once again. He barely heard the snatches of conversation going on around him.

"Fury is about to take the shot."

"Fury might not like how that ends," Harry murmured to Stark but Stark shrugged his shoulders.

"Fury always marched to his own beat," Stark retorted, shrugging his shoulders and Harry smiled, fair enough.

They waited for SHIELD to maneuver into position; the time was running down, one tick of the clock a time.

* * *

SHIELD was in position, their ships pulled towards the source of the energy. One could hear the commanding, booming voice of Nick Fury as far as the ear could hear. The Agent of SHIELD scoped out the scenario.

There was no time to mince words but there was a time for him to get decisive action.

"Fire at them all!"

Fury gritted his teeth, he knew what was on the line, he wanted to bring them all to the ground in a flash of fury. The booms got louder, louder, more intense.

SHIELD got a direct hit from their enemy. They were going down, hard and fast.

"Evacuate, you know what to do!"

Harry closed his eyes as he heard the SHIELD representatives scramble around like chickens like their heads cut off. That could have gone far better than it did. The wizard turned his head, shrugging his shoulders. There was a moment where the young wizard clasped his hands together and watched everything come to life. Two ticks of the clock entered his mind and the wizard kept himself from going down for the count.

"Do we have one more round?" Harry asked as the Avengers turned their heads. It was a moment where Captain America clasped his hands to the shield and nodded.

"Let's do it," Captain America stated in a bold voice.

"For sure," Iron Man chimed in but there was a loud humming sound.

"Warning, three minutes of backup power left, three minutes."

"And soon," Iron Man added, trying to coordinate non-essential systems to the defense around his armor.

"We'll do it," Harry offered him; shrugging his shoulder before he closed his eyes and thought to himself.

'_This is our last shot.'_

There was another thought that went through Harry's head.

'_No one said that this was going to be easy but it is what it is.'_

Harry kept his mind clear, waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for everything to happen.

"You have lost."

The voice of the Enchantress stated this normally and she walked forward, a sneer on her face. The woman was ready for the action and the blonde took a moment to keep her eyes on the prize. The golden haired woman offered her a shrug and a smile, taking a moment of time where the Avengers turned to her.

"It's not over until…." Iron Man stopped as he realized that the vocalizers on his suit were pretty much fried. That left him open for an assault from an enemy. The Armored Avenger turned his head around, pretty much a man in a suit now. He had limited weapons capabilities and he was running out of time.

"Iron Man's suit is failing and there are no third chances," Amora responded, carefully inclining her head for a moment. "You are rapidly running out of options and there is no way for you to escape, not this time."

"I don't suppose you have any ideas on how to defeat him," Hawkeye responded but the Enchantress smiled, looking quite amused by the expression on his face. There was a time where everything paused and they all pondered.

"Naturally, I have a plan."

The Enchantress remained rather quiet for that moment, crossing her arms and this built up the anticipation between the group. Harry in particular turned around and began to climb up the side of the building. He could fly but climbing gave him a few more seconds to think.

'_Sacrifice.'_

One word, yet it was a word that held so much meaning to Harry. His entire life was built around it, built around sacrifice. The wizard continued to step forward, keeping an eye on everything around him. The wizard watched them, carefully taking a moment to fold his arms and incline his head.

Three ticks of the clock echoed around him.

"It has to be done," Harry muttered to himself, even though there was nothing to it. The wizard looked up to the sky, seeing the swirling around the air.

Harry eyed himself, as the Avengers looked up towards him. None of them knew what he was doing and to explain what he was doing was not a luxury Harry could accord. Breathe in and breath out, the wizard stood on the edge of everything. The young green eyed mage turned her head around, eyes glinted, the fire going through them.

Power flowed in, power flowed out but would this attack be one to pack the necessary punch to bring his adversary down. The wizard tapped into his powers, drumming his fingers, it was like the death march was moving through the back of his head. Breathe in and breath out, flow in and flow out, this power would be ebbing and flowing within him. He got closer and closer to the edge of something. What that something was, he had no idea?

'_Futile but necessary.'_

That was another thought that echoed through the head of Harry, winding up the power of his punch. Energy swirled around his hands and he summoned all of the power in the air. There were holes in the attack, holes that he could exploit. Holes that could be torn open and bombarded, with Harry edging closer and closer to the attacks.

Time was about ready to run out, although perhaps it just did. The wizard flew through the blinding rift in the score. The flames ebbed and flowed in the sky, the wizard edging closer, on the precipice of true power.

The wizard was undeterred.

A blast of malevolent magical energy shot through his hands and made its way through the rift in the sky. Harry pushed, Surtur pushed back, both of them rocked, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, rocking, rolling. Taking a few moments to realize what echoed around him.

There was a loud anguished scream, once again Harry felt it, felt his hands shake, sweat rolled down the palms. His fingers numbed up, his breath quickened, his mind bent a little bit.

Time to take the plunge, and it was time for Harry to summon the magical energy around himself.

Surtur saw what he was doing and endeavored to stop it. Then Harry endeavored to fire back.

One bolt met another bolt and the air around them crackled. It was now that Iron Man's suit power ran to empty and he dropped down to the ground, landing with a sickening crash. The other Avengers scattered beasts throwing fire at them.

SHIELD tried one more last shot. Fury yelled to fire everything that they had at them.

Harry felt as if he was stuck in a tunnel and he edged into the darkness, feeling it creep up onto him. The ringing resounded and bright lights the entire spectrum of them, flashed through his eyes.

The end was here or at least very near.

The question was where did the end send them?

* * *

The dust cleared, nearly choking them as it did. They were surrounded by the smell of fire, the burning of brimstone, the cackling of embers, yes this situation could be far better. But at least that situation could not get any worse.

"What has happened?"

"We are on the other side of the realm, where he is at his strongest," Amora stated, popping up from behind them. The Enchantress watched everything, her lust for power more prominent than ever before and it nearly intoxicated her beyond reason.

Harry understood that being near this much power was going to cause temptations to rattle through their minds. The wizard kept himself firmly on his feet, not budging an inch with what happened. He knew that the world was mere moments away from being emtombed with utter chaos. Providing it was not entombed in complete and utter chaos. The dark haired wizard shifted his feet on the ground and tapped his foot, inclining his ear to hear the flickering noise all around them.

"You once again have foolishly stepped into the line of fire."

Surtur spotted them, his glowing eyes watching them. Harry, Thor, and Amora were the only three that were there, the rest of the Avengers were locked out. He could see that they were trying to get in.

"First I will crush you, and then I will lay waste to this world."

Harry heard the bold words and likely countless died, there was a huge amount of screaming that echoed in his ears. He knew that there was a moment where he needed to adjust stance. The moment of truth was at hand. The wizard kept his eyes on him and prepared to speak but it was Amora who side-stepped in.

The woman held her head forward.

"I wish to serve you."

"Amora you traitor…."

Harry understood what she was doing, or at least he thought he did. Of course, the one thing about someone like the Enchantress was that one never truly knew what they were doing, until it was too late. The wizard spun himself around and watched him.

Surtur suspected her actions, the demon was not buying her little declaration not even for a moment. Yet, he sought to humor her. The demon had his fun and his eyes turned into a joyous expression.

"Do you think that you are fit to serve me?"

"Amora, he will destroy you!" Thor warned as he reached forward.

"Silence Thunder God, I have given you more than sufficient enough opportunities," Amora responded as Harry watched her.

He thought that there was an instant where she was going to turn on them. Or maybe she was weighing the situation, like two sides. The scales of justice turned, swayed from one end to the other. They tipped, both of them leaning against each other. Thor stepped forward but the energy field held the God of Thunder in place. That was impressive enough in its own right, never was able to push out, despite all that held him into place.

"Do not be a fool Amora," Thor told her, almost begging her not to do so.

Of course, Thor did not know quite what he was begging about even though Harry did. For a brief moment, Surtur's attention was turned away from him, into the distance towards the golden haired woman. The woman walked towards him, inclining her knee and bending on it but at the same time she kept her gaze intent and focused on the person before her.

Was she mad or did she had a plan?

Harry figure it out immediately, that was something that bordered on genius or maybe it bordered in insanity. There was a great deal of insanity based on her plan and the gambit she tried to pull off.

The moment of truth was at hand and the wizard remained vigilante for if he slipped up now, the end would arrive in mere moments. Thor stood one last effort but it faded around him.

"You have chosen wisely but it is too late, your fate has been sealed," Surtur stated in a loud and thunderous tone. "Hell will rain down upon you, fates will be sealed. There is nothing that you can do to stop me."

"Nothing can be a lot of things, you know," Harry responded, shifting his weight, each step hurt even more as his ankle twisted from underneath him. He took many quick shots already.

Did he have a death wish? Perhaps one could that he would have that but the truth was, Harry had no reason of his mortality. There were instances where he debated with himself if he could ever be killed. He survived so much that he should not have, and what he survived was rather frustrating. The wizard turned his hand over, palm scrapped and a few droplets of blood splashing to the ground.

His injuries healed over, very much instantly but he was not completely out of the woods yet. He doubted that he would ever be out of the woods injury wise.

That being said, he had a plan.

Although one could debate all day and all night whether or not it was a good plan but that was completely beside the point. The wizard looked at his enemy with bloodshot eyes and saw Amora make her move. Predictable like a snake, she struck.

"Did you really think that I would…."

"Succumb, perhaps not willingly but if I cannot have, than I will take."

Harry saw Thor, and heard the other Avengers try to force their way through although it was futile. Harry locked eyes with the Prince of Thunder and now was the moment of truth.

'_All or nothing.'_

Words that never held more meaning to Harry than they did now and words that would be the driving force behind everything that he did with his sweaty, blood ridden palms. Time ticked by, each instant, and he closed his eyes, feeling the power rising up within him and pushing through his body. The death march of his heart drummed even more steadily. The wizard spun around and a bright light pushed through his hand.

Strength was not something that Harry was able to do. He could still break the seal but it might destroy himself.

The key word was that it might destroy him. Not that it was guaranteed to destroy him. His brow tainted with sweat, blood splashed down from his forehead as he edged around. Not only that but he was pretty sure his eyes were bloodshot.

"It has been sealed…."

Harry met his blasts of fire, and knocked down his demons with fury. The Enchantress broke from her seal and blasted Surtur, trying to push him back. The rift opened up, cracking open and SHIELD aimed an energy cannon towards him. Reaching up, he amplified it with energy.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Harry's magically amplified assist and the huge energy cannon from SHIELD combined to blast them with solid precision. The two forces combined knocked Surtur back but it was still not enough.

Eyes closed, mind shut, body ready, energy weapons out, blades ready to slice and tear through him, pivot, and swing, swipe and dice, that's what Harry's movements amounted to. The death march of his heart continued to beat as he pushed more into the battle.

He plunged all of the power he could into one last attack, one final assault and everything lit up around them. The wizard shook his hands carefully, feeling himself rattle a little bit, his skin almost ripped off the bones and he was sure that he was about ready to have an out of body experience.

He refused to drop down.

"BAM!"

The explosion could be heard and energy surrounded them all. The loud anguished scream of Surtur could be heard as the pain swam through Harry's body. Nerve endings super charged and fingers tingled but he kept on his feet.

Going, going, gone.

He was gone.

He was hurt.

Yet he felt fine.

More just to make sure and the portals closed all around them, causing these explosions to echo around each direction.

His body felt explosive, all of his nerve endings on fire but somehow he felt fine.

Even if he felt like hell, he felt fine.

* * *

Once again, there were bright lights. The dust settled and not for the last time today. Harry offered a small cough when he adjusted his stance and shook his head. What happened, did they win?

In a word, "yes". In another word "absolutely". They had done it, they had finally managed to win the day and drive Surtur back. If he had not been racked with pain, he would have been jumping for joy. Hell he would have done a handstand or two, maybe even a cartwheel. The sun shined brightly to his face and the smell of brimstone left the air. New York smelled practically pristine.

Well at least as pristine as New York ever smelled but that was beside the point. The wizard got himself up and sank down to the ground, not once, not twice, but thrice. He shook his head and heard the sound of Iron Man's armor booting back up. He tried to get himself to a standing position but it was hard to remain on his feet.

"So, we're back in business, for whatever it's worth," Iron Man responded, turning his head and blinking his eyes for a little bit. The truth was that Tony Stark suffered a lot in the name of his craft but the fact of the matter was that things could have been worse, much worse.

Harry slumped onto the ground, when Hawkeye got himself up as well. Ms. Marvel laid on the ground, a few bumps and bruises on her face. The injuries could have been far worse without her power set and her wrists cracked a little bit but she stood on her feet.

"Tell me we won," Ms. Marvel responded, rubbing her elbow and feeling it sting a little bit.

"I'll tell you once I've figured out how to hold back the urge of coughing up parts of my rib cage," Harry admitted, shaking his head a little bit.

"Good work, everyone."

The voice of Nick Fury crackled back to life, although it was rather difficult to make out anything that he said. The Commander of SHIELD flickered from one instant to the other and everything became a blur around them.

"The power in the city is being restored. You did it."

"No," Captain America corrected him as he saw Harry clutch the wall, legs dragging underneath him. "He did it."

"No problem, just another day," Harry answered, forcing out another breath.

Natasha walked over and eyed him. "It wasn't another day; it was a day that could have ended the world."

Harry felt a small amount of annoyance about being contradicted. For him that was just another day but he decided that he was too tired and sore to really complain too much.

It was time to head on home, wherever that was. As the dust settled and everyone caught their breath.

**To Be Concluded in the Final Part. **


	10. Part X

**Part X. **

"I tell you, ladies and gentleman, today was a day unlike any other, if we never had to go through another day like this one it would be too soon. It was complete and utter chaos and bedlam, you thought that we went through some tough days before, well bucko you haven't seen anything yet."

The man on the screen, dressed in a blue suit with grey hair and glasses stood over the scene, watching the chaotic scene, the burning rubble that filled the air in New York City and he shook his head with a shudder. He turned around and surveyed the carnage on the streets before him.

"While it's hard to assess the damages today, there are….there are a lot of things that could have gone worse, much worse today. We are trying to see if any of the people on the street have anything to say, even though we can't really figure much of it out ourselves."

The newscaster walked around, to see the men on the street, one of them looking up to the sky and his eyes were widened as he turned his head around.

"So tell me, friend, what did you think of today's events?"

"It was chaos, complete and utter chaos, I thought the end was nigh, nigh!"

The man rocked back and forth and saw that he was on camera. A bright smile snapped over his face before he started to jump up and down like an idiot.

"Hi, Mom!"

The newscaster chuckled as he turned around and walked away from this goofball, climbing over the smoking rubble. The smell of disgust and decay filled the air, but never the less, he pressed himself forward towards the scene, holding the microphone up as he tried to get a few more words from the people on the street.

"There are many people who were wondering what happened, wondering if they could make some kind of different. Wondering if they could see what was going to happen tomorrow. Much like this young lady right here?"

A girl, looking bored out of her skull, sat there, blowing bubble gum as she rocked herself back and forth, eyes widened.

"Tell me, miss, what do you think of the near end?"

"Whatever," the teenager stated as she popped bubbles on her gum and slowly chewed on it, nonplussed with the fact that all of reality could have come crashing down. That did not phase her in any way whatsoever.

The newscaster offered a bright smile.

"That is the buzzword of the day folks, whatever. A word that says so little bit at the same time, it says so much. The word "whatever" could bring forth a new age, new possibilities, a new age from the world. There are just so many things to be said with that word and it will open up many possibilities, challenging us, inspiring our very minds and tapping into our very hearts. It is a word that is only spoken in whispers. The word that will live on in infamy."

The newscaster stopped and paused, giving a shit eating grin as he did so and he whispered the word at his lowest point.

"Whatever."

The newscaster paused before he shrugged his shoulders, smiling wildly.

"Whatever."

The newscaster shrugged his shoulders and his face spread with an ear to ear grin before he drew in his breath. He smelled the decay in the air. His mind went wild with the sensations of the decay that was filling the air. And those sensations were not extremely happy that was for sure.

"It does roll off of the tongue, doesn't it?"

The newscaster edged forward.

"I tell you folks, the scene is chaos, with lots of venom and carnage!"

In the background, a certain pair of symbiote related villains ran by, mugging for the camera before they disappeared into the night. The newscaster shrugged as a hobo pushed himself into the scene, he had a messy beard and oily hair, dressed in white pants with no shoes.

"I tell you man, it's coming, the end is here, the end, we're not going to….we're not going to last much longer. It's like doomsday, man! That's why I got kicked out of Washington, I saw it coming but they can't stop us. Big Brother is always watching! Fight the power, the illuminati is everywhere! You can't hush us!"

The newscaster offered a smile although it was a rather nervous one. "The knowledge being dropped here is amazing, I can hardly believe it, but it's true. We're going to keep going forward with more news as it is being brought us to the hour."

"FIGHT THE POWER!"

"Yes, fight the power, you've got that right true believer," the silver hair newscaster stated as he turned around to watch everything. "Our heroic Avengers saved the world from fire and brimstone but then there was our mysterious emerald eyed wizard that stepped into the ring for the first time ever."

The newscaster paused, a wide smile filling his face before he continued to speak his mind.

"Who is our mysterious emerald eyed wizard? What will he do? Is he the hero we want or a villain masquerading as a do-gooder? Or is he the hero that we might not want but need? There is only one thing to do and that is step forward, keep fighting the good fight, and remember to always believe in yourself and do what is right."

The newscaster paused for a brief second, allowing his words to sink in with the viewing public and he clasped his hands together. He threw his head back with a wide smile and turned around.

"No doubt, we will be trying to pick up the pieces from today's cataclysmic events over the next few days. But we will win the day, every day, because we are survivors."

The newscaster paused and a wide smile filled his face.

"Until next time, this is Stan on the street, reminding you true believers to keep your heads up and remember…EXCELSIOR!"

* * *

Nick Fury often did not mince words, he was the no nonsense type of man who refused to let his words get the better of him. He stood tall and rather proud, one eye turned towards the assembled group of heroes that stood by them.

"And I thought being sent to the Principal's office was nerve wracking," Clint remarked as he watched Fury, waiting for his reaction.

"Well, I think this is far worse," Carol responded as she also kept her eyes locked onto Fury's.

Fury paced back and forth like a cage animal, he had summoned them all for this briefing and after the battle today, they expected some kind of lecture to be given. That was just the type of person that Fury was, he would rip into them. He just enjoyed building up anticipation and liked to make them sweat out, to squirm and to suffer about it.

The pendulum was about ready to drop, swinging about ready drop on them as the team watched, waiting, rather nervously. He blinked and watched them.

"Today's performance lacked many things."

"Oh boy, here we go," Tony stated as he watched Fury's body language and wondered how much of an ass reaming they were going to get.

"Well, this was bound to happen," Clint offered with a shrug as he watched Fury but the eyes of the Commander of SHIELD fixed on the archer. The archer took a step back and gulped rather prominently. His normal bravado faded as he watched Fury and shook his head. "I'll be good."

"As I was saying, today's performance could have gone better, much better," Fury responded as he paced back and forth, going in a circle practically. Harry in particular wondered if he was going to wear out a hole in the hellicarrier. He was like a caged animal, going in circles, making strides and being unable to go behind a certain area that he boxed himself into. He slowly turned his head towards the assembled group of heroes after looking away for a second.

"Well, I thought that our performance was commendable," Stark offered in a tentative tone of voice as he watched Fury.

Fury's eye snapped towards Stark and he responded in a cool voice. "Do you think you should be commended for doing your business in the bathroom as well, Stark?"

"Told you, I guess," Jessica stated, the spider themed heroine offering a shrug as she watch them nervously but said nothing more.

"I'm telling all of you, we've had mass causalities!" Fury snapped as he watched them all and the team took a step forward, before Clint muttered something out of the side of his mouth.

"Someone didn't get a hug today."

"This is a serious situation, Barton."

"No, my godfather was a serious situation," Harry remarked before he wanted to slap himself at his own bad joke. That was something that was played out for decades before Harry was even born or Sirius for that matter. Weird how something like that turned out but it was true.

Fury's eyes looked up, seeing the sky clear and more importantly, the Hellicarrier back to an optimal performance. That was something that he should quantify as a success although Fury never was one to do cartwheels over anything, that was not in his nature. He watched his Avengers, although they stood on their own.

"We did save the world from Surtur, so surely this would be a cause for much jubilation," Thor inputted as he clutched his hands together, but Fury's eye watched them. The Prince of Thunder stepped back but only for a moment. He stood steadfast and strong; knowing that he perhaps should chose his battles quite wisely with this one.

"That much is true, you did save the world," Fury agreed but everyone waited for it to happen, they sensed it, floating in the air above their heads, like a dangling sword that was ready to chop their heads off. "But in some ways, you got lucky."

Harry decided to bring up one point that he learned throughout the years.

"Luck and skill, there is a fine line between it," Harry remarked in a calm and crisp voice.

Fury stopped, knowing that despite everything, he was fighting what amounted to a losing battle. Harry was not one that was going to go down without a fight, Fury knew it, the entire world knew it, despite everything that happened, despite the fact that the wizard should have been beaten down, he was a survivor and a fighter.

"Well there was the fine line that you were willing to tap dance over, time and time again," Fury fired back as he kept his eye firmly on Harry.

The mage shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure I'm getting your basic point."

"Think about it kid, it will come to you," Fury stated as he watched Harry who stared back with determination.

The Avengers waited around, there was a sense of tension filling the room around them. It was a concept that was hard not to understand, it was Nick Fury and it was Harry Potter, standing nose to nose with each other, locked into an intense stare down. Neither backed down during the best of times and most certainly, they were not going to back down now. Not ever, but the two of them watched each other, intensity filling their eyes and their minds.

"Despite the fact that the operation was nearly bungled, and we lost many, the death toll could have been far greater," Fury concluded as he drew in his breath. He analyzed every one of them and each felt like they were being graded. And there was definite room for improvement.

Well everyone except Harry, he just happened to be here when the chaos happened so he was along for the ride. The fact that he thought that Fury lost a few times throughout their time here but Harry was all for giving the Commander of SHIELD a refresher course of the fact that he was not going to allow him to roll over the wizard, no matter what. No matter how stubborn Fury got, Harry was the one that had strength and the one who would stare Fury in the eye.

Once again, there was tension and it was going to be cut with a knife. The wizard kept his eye on the commander of SHIELD, the super-agent stared down the Boy-Who-Lived.

"And this could get ugly in a hurry," Tony whispered in an awed voice as he watched the situation.

"Surtur is gone, is he not?" Thor asked as he broke the silence.

"I believe he might be for the moment,' Harry informed them, rolling his shoulders in a slight shrug, the green eyed wizard was not going to say that someone was gone for long, because he knew better, oh did he ever know better, after all he had been through. "But we should prepare for his return."

Natasha had to say, that was a pragmatic reaction to the situation but never the less, it was a rather smart one, all things considered. She closed her eyes and thought about what Harry was going do and had to agree, that he was on the right track with things.

"There will be other battles."

Captain America stated these words in a crisp manner and as always, his words hung with much wisdom, more wisdom than any of them could have realized. The spirit of many battles flowed through him and he had been around the block a number of times. It was something that he dealt with and now he was ready to go into the next battle. Whether that was, any time, any place, anywhere.

* * *

Doctor Stephen Strange was classified as the Sorcerer Supreme for this dimension, and that was not just a title. That was a job that he took rather seriously. It was unfortunate that he had many problems that monopolized his day to day life. In fact, one could state that it made having a social life difficult, actually scratch that, it made having a social life nearly impossible. The Sorcerer Supreme took a moment to put a hand on his chin, reflect and ponder about everything that happened regarding him.

He heard about the dimensional disturbances that rocked the world and knew that there was a problem that he would have to tackle. It was quite unfortunate that interdimensional disturbance brought him out of his realm and brought him to another place. Where he had to deal with another pressing matter that presented itself, and thus he missed the vast majority of the incident.

"So, you're running a bit late, aren't you?" Harry asked in a calm voice.

"It's been a long time," Strange responded as he watched the young wizard before him.

"It has," Harry commented to Strange coolly.

"So, wait, now the Sorcerer Supreme shows up?" Tony asked as he watched him.

"Yes, we could have kind of used you when the world was falling to pieces," Carol remarked in a crisp voice and that allowed Stephen Strange to cringe.

Strange's eyes spun around and fixed on Harry's face but he said nothing, not at for the moment. Of course, Strange did not like the look that was on Harry's face. It was one that was a mixture of being smug and being….well Strange did not want to know what that was. Although he figured that it was something that was not going to be fun times for him.

"So, what were you doing, getting an interdimensional booty call, while the universe was coming undone?" Harry asked as he watched Strange.

"It's a long story."

"Aren't they all?" Clint asked, with a smile crossing his face.

"Whilst you were lollygagging, the world is coming asunder," Thor chimed in, his loud booming voice giving a certain inflection and declaration to it.

"So what are we talking about?" Strange asked as he watched Harry, a smile crossing the young wizard's face.

Strange perhaps did understate how much he hated when Harry Potter smiled at him like that. They had been down the road a couple of times, dealing with insanity that would make the most hardened of men and women hide in a closet and plead for mercy. Often times when he smiled like that, that seldom meant anything good. The Sorcerer Supreme waited for the other shoe to drop, waited for something to happen.

"Oh, not much," Harry remarked as he shrugged his shoulders. "Basic old testament stuff, the world is going to end, no big deal."

Harry casually understating the end of the world was about right, Strange figured. He always had a rather prominent, "been there, done that vibe" as it pertained to mass hysteria. That was something that Strange noticed more and more as he dealt with Harry. It was a particularly frustrating mania regarding to the wizard.

"Yes, the skies rained with fire, the rivers boiled with blood," Stark stated.

"Armageddon is here," Carol added as she watched them.

"Dogs and cats living together, it was mass hysteria!" Clint added.

"Politicians were actually being honest for a change," Harry concluded before he stopped and shook his head. "Actually not even the Apocalypse would bring that."

Strange chuckled for a moment before he stood up and became serious once again. Harry was glad that the Sorcerer Supreme got some level of amusement of this because amusement was not something that the wizard did not have. He lost count of how many times he died during this adventure .No, not almost died, the fact that he did die, and somehow was thrown back into the fray, because, well fate didn't want to lose their favorite punching bag. And they could not have that, no not at all. The young wizard kept his hands on his forehead, waiting and watching for everything.

"Well, I guess that there was an instant where I was asleep at the switch," Strange remarked as he watched Harry. The amusement never left the eyes of the green eyed wizard. He placed his hands on his face and rocked back a little bit. "I believe that I owe you and your associates a drink."

The various Avengers who had been standing around turned towards each other and locked eyes. True to form, it was Stark who responded.

"Hey, far be it for me to turn town a free drink," the armored avenger added before he added. "Better make it of the non-alcoholic variety."

The Avengers watched Stark, their eyes on him.

"Trying to cut back, this time, I'm serious about it, no really I'm serious, stop looking at me like that!"

Clint offered him a raised eyebrow, chuckling, before he turned his head around for a moment. "I wasn't saying anything, please me, I wasn't saying a word."

"But you were thinking something," Stark responded but Carol was the one who responded.

"A guilty conscience isn't something that becomes you, Tony."

Tony threw his hands up and back into the air, as always it did seem to be like he was fighting a losing battle. Then again, that was one of those things that caused him to grow strong and be part of the top super hero team of the world.

The Avengers would have many other battles and the day would be seized. Even if the events of this day could have ended for the worse, they ended up rather better.

* * *

Harry reflected what happened, although in his day, he was completely one hundred percent certain that it was the aftermath of the battle and not the battle itself that was the real test of a character. It measured the heart and soul of a person and allowed them to figure out what needed to be done. He thought about the battle that happened but there was one more important thing to think about and that was the battle that was yet to come. It reflected in the back of his mind.

Thor walked up, looking reflective as he stared out the window. The God of Thunder watched as he clutched his hands to his hammer. He rubbed his hands together, picking up the friction before his head turned towards Harry.

"Do you think we've seen the last of that menace?"

Harry sighed before he gave the honest answer to the Prince of Thunder. "I don't know, I really don't know."

That was an answer that was more than honest but he tried to think that he was gone. He blasted Surtur with everything that he could, which knocked him backwards. The shot could have killed many beings and it very nearly killed Harry to deliver it. Therefore, many people would have thought that that creature met his final resting place.

No, Harry was not many people; he was far from many people. His eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch as he offered a rather labored sigh. He was not going to count out the enemy, even with the proof of a corpse that rotted at his feet.

"I've been down this road before and I know what's happened," Harry admitted to Thor and Thor inclined his head.

"Aye, I hear you," Thor responded, crisp and calm, clutching his hammer. "Do we dare…."

"I don't know," Harry admitted, as he turned around and reflected on everything that happened during this adventure.

"Well then if you don't know, then I don't know."

Iron Man responded as he walked forward, crossing his arms and stepped forward. The battle ended today and now the armored avenger reflected the event in his mind. It was quite the adventure to say the very least and he looked forward to what the next one would bring, whatever that would bring. He stood firmly on the ground.

"So, do you think that…."

"I don't know, we should assume that he could come back," Harry added, keeping his hands on his face and throwing his head back with a labored sigh.

"That assumption is one that I will not try and disagree with you about," Thor remarked, he had fought too many battles to foolishly assume that an enemy was gone just because there was no conceivable way that they could survive.

Humans had a statement about assumptions that Thor thought fit rather well.

"The end, or a new beginning," Captain America chimed in as he walked into the room.

"Maybe both," Harry offered after a second of thought.

That was the issue; one person's end was another person's new beginning. Harry was not about to really allow himself to get taken down the path where he thought that the door slammed shut. That door remained wide open for the next adventure, whatever that next adventure would be. There was one thing that vexed him.

Harry Potter allowed a lot to go in his time, in his life, but there was one thing that he hated. A mystery that went unsolved annoyed him to a degree that many might not be able to fathom. It was there in front of him, taunting him with the wicked misery and that was where a certain person ended up. He shifted his head and thought.

Amora was there and then she was not, disappeared into the night as quickly as someone like her might have appeared.

"You notice that there was someone who slipped through the cracks," Natasha remarked as she brought them back to life. "Our Enchantress is missing in action."

"She is but she cannot hide forever," Harry responded with confidence. It was true, the Enchantress was someone who had slipped through the cracks, she was completely crafty to that extent.

"And I don't suppose we've seen the last of her as well," Captain America remarked as he leaned forward, holding his shield.

"You've been at this game far longer than most of us have been alive," Harry responded as he turned towards the First Avenger. "What do you think?"

"A good point," Captain America agreed, knowing that they would be fools if they thought the Enchantress was going to run into the night without a trace.

"She'll be back, she always comes back," Thor concluded.

"Isn't that the case with all women?" Stark asked as Carol and Natasha looked at him. "Well, present company….yeah I'm going to shut up before I dig my own grave."

"Wise choice."

Fury walked by, not really contributing much more than that. He had some cleaning up to do.

* * *

"So after all that, you're leaving."

Harry was about ready to head out after the events of today but Natasha stopped him, watching him, an eyebrow raised as she stood in front of him.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked, putting his hands on his hips and throwing his head back with a long sigh, as he closed his eyes. "I'm not going to stick around just for the fact that people think that I should stick around. For the past several years, I've always been on the move. I've just stood there for a very long time."

"I'm sure you've stood there for longer then you wanted to but perhaps the Avengers could use you for a little while longer," Natasha remarked as Harry smiled.

"Fury thought that the sale's pitch would be easier for me to swallow coming from a pretty face, than his ugly mug," Harry dead panned in a joking manner.

Natasha remained calm and cool; she never allowed her emotions to betray her. That was one of the things that made her a quality spy. She was not about to crack under the pressure and she was most not certainly about to crack just because he said a few words towards her. The redhead watched him carefully.

"You did do well out there," Natasha offered him in a quiet voice.

"I could say that, but I could do better," Harry responded as he turned around and faced from the window. She watched him for a moment, keeping her eyes locked firmly onto him.

He was an enigma and a frustrating one yet one she was interested in trying to puzzle together. Then again, she did not doubt that many people tried to piece together the puzzle that was Harry Potter and failed big time. He was the type to leave frustrated people in his wake and that actually caused a grimace to cross her face.

"So, you don't have to open up, no one's making you."

Harry smiled back, it was a smile that was equal parts endearing and frustration. Natasha held her hands together, keeping her eyes locked onto Harry's.

"I know no one is making me, which is good, because there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that I'm opening up after everything that happened," Harry added as he turned around, not looking at her for a brief moment.

"Well, no one can say that you aren't blunt and honest," Natasha replied as she watched him.

"Well, I would hope so, because they'd be a liar," Harry stated as he watched them. "The criminals are about ready to be rounded up, I'm sure."

"Yes," Natasha offered. "Zemo….well his body got destroyed in the fire."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"But we both know that he's likely still out there, plotting," Natasha added as she turned around. "The Fantastic Four rounded a few people up, Spider-Man left Rhino and Shocker gift-wrapped for the police, and that's really about it."

"Fascinating," Harry offered with a smile as he watched the young spy, who watched him back.

"You're one for conversation are you," Natasha answered back and Harry offered her a brief smile, tapping his foot.

"Not really."

"I figured as much," Natasha stated as the awkwardness hung between them like a swinging pendulum. "So we have to talk about something."

"We do, don't we."

"Yes we do."

The elephant in the room, something that neither of them wanted to bring up but yet both of them longed to bring it up. The kiss that they shared in the heat of the moment, both of them avoided the subject with the tact of a couple of politicians.

"Okay, fine, I kissed you, two sets of lips, meeting in passion, remember that?" Harry asked as he watched her and Natasha inclined her head with a nod.

"Yes, I remember that,' Natasha fired back.

"Good to see that I'm unforgettable," Harry responded, offering her a smile.

"You're worse than Stark," Natasha stated as she sighed.

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult."

"Take it any way that you wish," Natasha remarked to him as she looked at him, a smile crossing her face.

"Sure, you don't want me to take you anyway you wish," Harry added and Natasha looked at him, placing a hand on her hip. "Too soon."

"Yes, too soon," Natasha agreed, but she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a kiss. Harry returned the kiss, the two of them exchanging this intense lip locking, arms wrapped tightly around each other.

"And now we're even," Harry responded as Natasha waited.

"It's a shame that you have to leave," she offered him, a smile crossing her face.

"Not just yet," Harry responded but there was an alarm that went off.

"Avengers ,there is a crisis!"

"So, another day at the office?" Harry asked.

"You should know," Natasha told him as she shrugged her shoulders before they moved forward.

Another day.

**End.**

**There will be no sequel. **


End file.
